Average Life of a Teenager
by Im.a.stitchpunk
Summary: Amaya's just moved to Rikkai High School. Join her as she finds her place in the school and makes friends with the three demons of Rikkai and the other regulars. Eventual Sanada/OC.
1. Chapter 1

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

Being the new student singles you out instantaneously, it's pretty obvious when you're a new student too; gawking at the new school, nervously looking at people searching for a friend or someone to help, being introduced in every single class, the works. I sit irritated in my English class, not only was I introduced again, I kept getting easy questions to answer.

"Correct Kokawa-San." Natsume-Sensei smiles at me. I roll my eyes and turn my head to the window on my left. I'm on the second story of the school so I get a nice view of the cityscape. "No, sorry that's incorrect Kirihara-San." Sensei's voice pulls me from thoughts of the new city I was in. "Weren't you listening to Kokawa-San just a second ago?" Natsume-Sensei, a woman with long black hair and glasses, has her hands on her hips chiding another student. The boy slinks into his seat, he's a few row in front of me and I can see his curly black hair from here. Sensei sighs, "Kokawa-San can you repeat your answer?"

I do as commanded and watch the boy scrawl something on a piece of paper before answering his original question this time getting it right. Back to the window. I used to live up north, in the cold mountains, now I'm by the ocean and I'm dying of a heatstroke. Tugging awkwardly at my shirt collar I glance around the room wondering if anybody cares about the new girl, well clearly they wouldn't risk turning around to look at me. With a gentle grunt I go back to copying down the translations Natsume-Sensei was saying. My attention, much like my fellow students, was dwindling, it was right before lunch and I was getting hungry.

_Bring_! The bell rang and the students fled the room like a reverse Baby Boom. Chuckling to myself I gather my stuff and ponder where I'm going to eat my lunch. I doubt anyone will want to eat with me so I wander down the stairs and try to find my next few classes while I have the chance. Once I have the layout of the school down I find an empty bench off somewhere and begin to eat. Conversation drifts towards my ears as people laugh and joke off in the distance. Why did I have to move? Oh right, Daddy had to move for work. He manages a few computer businesses and there's a store in this stupid city that needed his assistance. So the family moved… and by family I mean myself, my parents, my cat, our mother cat and her five kittens. What a joy it is moving five baby kittens on a couple hour car trip.

Very unlady-like I gobble down my food because I wasted most of my time wandering the school. Then I rush into Biology class and have to stand in front of the classroom like an idiot as people filed in. The students gawked at me as they walked by to get to their seats. Finally with everyone sitting down the teacher, Yoshida-Sensei, turned his attention to me.

"Please, introduce yourself." He says stiffly. I can tell he's going to make my favorite class non-enjoyable.

"Ah, I'm Kokawa Amaya," I turn to the class, they glare at me, "I'm from Furano… Hokkaido. I moved here with my parents and if anybody is interested in buying a kitten I have four kittens for sale." I shrug and turn to Sensei to see if he requested anything else from me.

"Very well, go sit Kokawa-San by Kirihara-San, maybe you can keep him focused in class." He waves his hand at a boy sitting in the back row. Not any boy, the boy from English. He glares at me when I sit down next to him.

"You're that girl that showed me up in English." He growls.

"Didn't take much." I retort and he instantly shuts up. Normally I'm not a mean person but he was asking for it and I didn't want him going on and on about how I showed him up. We're both silent throughout the whole class, it's still early in the school year so they're learning the basics, currently we're learning how to use microscopes. Again I space out during class, keeping my chin in my palm and my elbow on the table, I scrawl half-heartedly throughout the whole class. The boy doesn't speak again to me throughout the rest of class, when the bell rings he grabs his crap and runs out of the room like I have B.O. I know I don't, I still smell like my citrus perfume.

.-.

The day ends with a loud _Bring!_ that sends teens running through the halls. Instead of rushing home I find myself a spot on some hill with a couple trees and settle in to go over the papers I was given throughout the day. Teacher notices about work I absolutely needed to make up, homework, plus I had a list of all the clubs that I could join.

"Faster Akaya! You're speed is dropping! Marui! Pick up your feet and spit that gum out!" I found myself right in front of the boy's tennis courts. A guy with blue hair, a feminine yet powerful voice and a bright yellow uniform (everyone was wearing bright yellow) was screaming orders at everyone as they run around and do squats and stuff. "Niou! Deeper on those squats! Nobody is going to be slacking off! We need to be in top shape for Nationals!" I'm pretty sure that boy put the dic in dictator.

His screams made it hard for me to focus on my homework so I changed to something lighter, going over the list of clubs. Blue highlighter in hand I get to work sorting out clubs that appealed to me. The boy barks orders for a while before the barking stops, suddenly I'm able to focus more. My eyes scan the listing for the tennis team… if the girl's Captain is anything like this blue haired boy with the girly voice hell if I join. I do need to join a sport, I doubt there will be any good walking trails around here.

"Excuse me." A voice says politely. I look up from my internal monologue and see the blue haired boy and two other boys all in those obnoxious bumblebee uniforms. That's another thing, if the girl's uniform is a bumblebee too ugh.

"Yes?" I ask politely.

"Do you mind if we sit with you?" The boy smiles wide at me, he really does look like a girl, his hair is a little longer and wavy and he has a feminine face to match his voice. Plus his body is even thinner than mine.

"Of course, oh, am I in your spot?" I pull my stuff, which had swam away from me, back to my side so the three boys could settle by the tree.

"No, no, it's quite alright." The boy smiles at me before turning to the other two. I take a second to glance at the other two boys, one is about as thin as the blue haired boy and has brown hair in a bowl cut and his eyes are closed. How the hell can he see? Let alone read from the notebook he's looking at? Jeez. The other boy is taller and more built than the other two boys, he has black hair but he's wearing a black hat so I can't see much of it, except his sidebangs have been cut diagonally like a reverse bob. He glances at me causing me to squeak and look back to my papers. Somehow I feel incredibly belittled by all three of them despite the fact I only think the black haired boy is stronger than me.

Just then a huge gust of wind whips through causing the trees to rattle their new baby leaves and my papers to be ripped from my hand. I shriek and race after the papers. Papers flutter around and I madly run around searching for the papers. One lands in a branch just out of my reach, and that's saying something because I'm almost 5'8".

"Excuse me." A deep voice jumps me and I slide out of the way as the capped boy reaches up and takes the paper from it's perch and hands it back to me, he's got to be at least 6 feet tall. I bow deeply and thank him before hurrying back to my stuff to be sure I got everything.

"Oh, oh no." I look around searching for a page of the club list.

"Are you a new student?" The blue haired boy looks at me holding out the page in question. I take the paper and nod my head. "I'm Yukimura Seiichi, if you need anything let me know alright? This is Sanada Genichiro," the capped boy nods his head curtly, "and this is Yanagi Renji," the bowl cut boy nods his head too, "if you need anything let us know Miss…"

"Kokawa Amaya. I'm from Hokkaido… Furano." I say.

"Ah, explains the sweat." Yanagi mutters, I look at him with wide eyes. "You're perspiring more than normal, it's because you're not used to such warm temperatures." I nod my head, not wanting to know how he can tell I'm sweating so much, and go back to my work, they begin discussing who will play where and etcetera, tennis stuff. Finally, I've gone through the papers and decided I'm going to join a book club, an art club, the photography club and an archery club and I'll play tennis, maybe not seriously but I'll at least try out. Homework is next, and since the breeze has stayed I stay in the same spot and watch as Yukimura and the other two boys order around the tennis team.

.-.

Homework done and with my registrations in the office I head home, backpack over my shoulder I decide to walk since I know the walking route better than the bus route. My feet carry me silently as I jam out to American pop music from my iPod. I don't care if I occasionally shuffle or shake my body I had a pretty good first day of school. The mewls of kittens greet me when I unlock the house door. My kitten Riot, a white cat with heterochromia, races to my feet and demands I pay attention to her before she races off down the hall to the bathroom where her food is kept. Clearly she ran out of food or she can see the bottom of her bowl.

"Stupid cat." I mutter sauntering into the bathroom peering into her white bowl that still had plenty of kitty crunchies left in it. "Ugh, why are you so picky!" I take out the bag of cat food and pour the bowl full. Riot mews and eats greedily. "You'll get fat." I warn her as I shuffle from the bathroom upstairs to my room to dump my stuff onto my bed. Then it's back downstairs to the living room where the kittens and their mother lay in a box under a warm light. Moon, a black cat with a white spot on her hip, peers up at me with her yellow eyes, she's Riot's mother and has five adorable babies mewling around her. There's two black ones, a white one, a grey one, and one orange one that I'm keeping and naming Juice. They all peer up at me with their kitten eyes and I set them on the floor to roam around. Moon settles in my lap and I tell her about my day.

I give Moon food and make sure the kittens are happy before I set them back into their kennel where they're safe. Once that's done I go and start to make myself supper. Nobody's home, ever, and I've gotten used to it. Dad lives to work and Mom does too. Dad's always staying at his businesses or nearby because "it's easier that way" and Mom puts in so many hours at the local hospital she's never around either. Glad I can cook.

After supper is cooked I make sure the house is all set, no laundry that needed to be done, no dishes, and that I have food for the next few days. Then I head upstairs and drift to bed thinking about my first day of school and missing my old friends. I'll make new friends right? Maybe that Yukimura guy will be my friend. Who knows. What I do know is that I need sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

A week goes by and a girl from school came and bought the grey kitten from me. Down to four it feels almost lonely. Still, I've settled into my life getting into all the clubs I asked to join, the tennis club is still in limbo at the moment though. School is still relatively easy, and that boy from English, Kirihara Akaya, he just about hates me. It's not my fault he sucks at English and I keep showing him up, unintentionally I might add.

"It's pronounced '_wonderful_', Kirihara-San." Natsume-Sensei scolds. The boy drops his head, frustrated, and Sensei moves on. Before she can correct a girl on her pronunciation of "_communication_" the bell rings. "Oh, Kirihara-San, Kokawa-San, can you stay after for a minute?"

"Of course." I tell her as I gather my things and walk to her desk at the front of the room. Kirihara shuffles beside me, he's on the tennis team and I hear Yukimura, Sanada, and Yanagi talking about his grades all the time. What a good eavesdropper I've become.

"Kirihara-San… you're close to failing again." The boy's head slumps and he grumbles. "Kokawa-San, you've become top of the class." Pride takes over and I have a mental victory dance. "So, I've decided, Kokawa-San, you need to tutor Kirihara-San until he improves."

"What?" We both say, well Kirihara actually yells it, but regardless, what?

"It's the only thing I can think of Kirihara-San." Natsume-Sensei says with a sigh. "Give it a try, won't you?"

"I can't! I have tennis practice."

"You won't have tennis practice if you fail English." I tell him which earns me a deathly glare from his large green eyes.

"Give it a try, please." Natsume-Sensei pressures.

"I'm fine with it if you are." I give a shrug, tutoring him would at least give me something to do for a little while.

"I can't afford to fail." He says, his way of saying he'll do it before he storms away. "Friday night, your place." He slams the door shut behind him and I sigh.

"You'll be able to handle him Kokawa-San, he's a good kid he really is."

"I know." I say walking towards the door. "Don't worry, either I'll be able to help him or not." I shrug and say a goodbye.

.-.

After school I find myself sitting by the tree doing my homework, it's become a routine for me. Yukimura walks up, alone, and sits beside me. "Hello Kokawa-San."

"Hello Yukimura-San." I reply.

"Didn't you join the tennis team?" He asks leaning back on the tree.

"Well, they won't let me officially join until their intraranking tournament." I mutter, they want to make sure I at least have some ability before they accept my request, "So I see no sense in letting them see my ability until then."

"So you play tennis?"

"A little…" I don't tell him I got into it on accident. Tennis is something my father and all his bigwig friends do in their spare time like tennis. So naturally the children of the bigwigs were taught the basics of tennis. I thought it was fun and began pursuing it daily, I suppose some would say I'm good but I never joined my tennis team to really tell. We fall silent. Me doing homework and Yukimura watching his little minions. "Yukimura-San… do you like cats?"

He looks at me, his face shows how amused he is by my question. "Yes, I suppose."

"Would you be interested in buying a kitten? I have three I'm trying to sell." I take out my phone and show him a bad picture I have of the five kittens, "The grey and orange one are taken but the two black ones and the white one are for sale."

"They're cute." Yukimura smiled, "Would it be alright for me to come over some day and play with them? I like seeing a cats personality before I buy one."

"Sure." I tell him.

.-.

It's Friday. Thank God. Homework has piled up on me, essays I had to write, lab reports, books to read. The tournament for tennis is starting on Monday, so I have the weekend to practice. I settle into my spot on the hill watching the boys tennis practice. Today Kirihara is coming over so I can tutor him, and Yukimura is going to pop over and look at my kittens. I've decided I'm going to teach Kirihara English the same way I learned, I learned through simple books and stories and gradually worked up from there. Of course homework will be done first before I take the time to teach him extra things.

Yukimura blows a whistle that pulls me from my thoughts about English. Practice is over and I watch the boys shuffle into the locker room. After gathering my stuff I wait outside the locker rooms. The non-regulars leave in waves first, branching off to go home and party, paying no mind to me. Finally five boys leave the locker room together, Kirihara is among them. They all stare at me and Kirihara grumbles and shuffles to my side.

"Let's go." He growled.

"_I'm waiting for Yukimura-San_." I speak in English.

Kirihara's large green eyes stare at me, clearly not understanding what I said. "I'm going to hate this."

One of the boys, a redhead, pounces on Kirihara. "What's this? You're girlfriend?"

"Hell no!" Kirihara shoved the boy off his shoulders. "She's tutoring me."

"Ahh, Kirihara-Kun needs a tutor." The redhead pouts before grinning wickedly, "Well I was going to ask you to go out for burgers with the rest of us but you can't." The redhead sticks his tongue out and prances away from Kirihara before he can kick the kid in the shin.

"Marui that wasn't nice." A blue-ish silver haired boy chided, "It's not Kirihara-Kun's fault he's failing English." The two boys snickered and looked to Kirihara who was growling and glaring. "Let's go! Jackal-San, you're buying right?" And the four walked away talking about who was going to buy.

"I hate this." Kirihara growled.

"Get better at English and you can join them." I tell him.

"So why are you waiting for Yukimura-Buchou?"

"You understood?" I asked.

He shrugged not giving me a clear answer. Before I explain Yukimura, Sanada, and Yanagi leave the locker room together. They greet me before Sanada and Yanagi head home.

"Ready?" I ask hoisting my backpack up onto my shoulder.

"Hi, Buchou, what are you doing here?" Kirihara asks as we start to walk down the streets together.

"I'm going to look at Kokawa-Chan's kittens." Yukimura smiles.

"Oh, they're so adorable." I tell him. "The little white kitten is just a love bug." Kirihara doesn't say anything as Yukimura and I talk about the kittens. My house isn't that far from the school, it takes us about twenty minutes to get to my house. I unlock the door and let the two inside.

"You don't live far from Sanada and Yanagi." Yukimura stated as he slipped of his shoes. Kirihara's been silent, he's just grumpy.

We walk into the large living room. "Woah," Kirihara said. Clearly he's taken a back by the lavishness of my house, since you never see it on the outside or in the entry. The living room on the first floor is really a meeting room, there's a large plush couch, loveseat, and chair, a dark mahogany coffee table, and what probably impressed Kirihara more than the statues and artwork on the walls was our large 60 inch TV, huge surround sound system, and the shiny black Wii waiting to be played. "Are you rich or something?" The boy asked as he flopped into the maroon couch.

"Something like that." I tell him. "Oh, that's Riot." The white kitten peers at us from behind the couch. "Hello Princess." I lift her into my arms but she instantly claws me until I drop her. With that she races down the hall, what a drama queen.

"Was that the love bug?" Yukimura sits beside Kirihara on the couch, giggling.

"No, that's my kitten Riot, hold on, I'll go get the kittens. Kirihara-San, work on your homework alright?"

"Don't tell me what to do." He snaps.

"Ak-" Yukimura starts to chide him.

"Alright, don't do your homework and fail the class." I retort, "Your pick. Do homework and stay on the tennis team or don't and fail the class."

With a lot of grumbles Kirihara starts to work on his homework. I go down the hall to the guest bathroom where I've let the kittens go and explore. They're crying to be freed and to be fed, guess they ate all their food. Opening the door the black male races towards the door, he's the adventurous one, the others trail after him, while the white kitten stays close to me until I pick her and her brother and sisters up.

"Ow, no biting!" I tell Juice when she tries to suckle on my thumb. "Kitty claws." I warn the adventurous boy who was clawing at me as I struggle to get them all into the living room before one of them ends up slipping from my grasp. Yukimura takes some kittens from me and the two of us sit on the floor watching the babies run around and explore.

"So what are they like?" He asks.

"Ok, this is Juice," I pick up the orange kitten, "she's staying with me, she's nice and a little adventurous and I think she'll balance out Riot's mean streaks. Alright, that kitten is the adventurous one, he leads the pack. The white one is the love bug, she stays by my side instead of following the male. And the black girl, she's mellow and she's definitely a follower. I've seen her walk off a coffee table just because her brother did."

Yukimura and I giggle and I let him play with the kittens while I waddle to Kirihara on my knees. "Need help?" He grumbles and I stand to look at the paper he's working on, "This sentence is awkward." I tell him pointing to a particular translation, "Think about it."

"What do you mean it's awkward?" Kirihara said.

"_The cat run home._" I say. "It should be '_the cat ran home_'. You're using the wrong tense."

Again he growls and changed his answer. I watch him go through his homework while the kittens mewl and race around Yukimura. Occasionally the blue haired boy would giggle and lean around the coffee table to catch the stray kitten. Finally I lean down, scooping up the white kitten and dropping it into Kirihara's lap.

"I try and do my homework and then you distract me with this." He glares at the kitten who's staring back at him with equally wide eyes. She lets out a little meow and crawls back towards me.

"Oh! You know who this looks like?" Yukimura yanked the black kitten back to him again. "You, Akaya, look he's got green eyes, he's adventurous and he's a pain in my ass." Yukimura giggles and drops the kitten into Kirihara's lap. Sure enough the two stare at each other with matching bright green eyes.

Kirihara goes back to his homework but the kitten stayed in his lap. I swear that's the longest I've seen that kitten sit still. The three of us settle on the floor doing homework and letting the kittens crawl around us with the occasional Moon running up to check her babies were safe. Riot stayed out of the living room, she's not fond of the kittens because she's no longer the baby. Yukimura decided he was going to buy the black female and he was going to talk to some boys on the tennis team over the remaining black cat and the white cat. Then he said goodbye, kitten under his arm mewling. Then it was Kirihara and I doing homework.

"How much are you selling them for?" Kirihara asked scratching the kittens head. When I tell him he just nods his head and starts to go back to the homework. "Hey, what's this word?" I look over searching the paper through his scrawled handwriting.

"Oh, _communication_." I tell him and explain what it means and he nods and goes back to his work. "Hey, would you care if I put on some music? American music to help you think." He doesn't object and I plug my iPod into the surround sound system and turn the volume low. "Are you hungry at all?" I ask settling beside him.

"No." He replies not looking up from his work. The music changes from a pop song to a darker song. Kirihara, halfway through the song looks up. "What are they saying? In the song I mean."

"Listen then." I replay the song and help him with the lyrics since I know them by heart. The music has gotten him interested in English as I type away at a lab report. "Don't forget the lab report for Biology due Monday."

"Don't forget the essay for History due Tuesday." He retorts.

"I finished that already." I tell him waving my three page essay in his face.

"Screw you." He rolled his eyes going back to his homework.

"Do you have a planner?" I ask, "It will help you organize your life."

"Planners are for girls." I take out my pocket-sized planner and slap it down on the coffee table in front of us. He looks through it. "Why do you do so much?"

"I don't." I reply, "It's just notes," each page of the little paper is an entire day filled with random notes, "homework and such."

"But you're in like ten clubs too." Kirihara said.

"No." I raise a finger, "The photography club meets every Thursday, art club on Tuesdays, book club every third Wednesday of the month, and the Archery club usually meets over the weekend for recreation. It's not much. Trust me."

He rolls his eyes, "So is this the secret behind women's ability to multitask?"

"No," I tell him taking the planner from him, "it just keeps me organized. You should get one Kirihara-San, at least to remind you when you have homework and when you don't have practice." He grumbles. I roll my eyes and go to my room to grab a spare planner from my desk. "It's your lucky day Kirihara-San, it's even black." I toss the planner into his lap and go back to work. "I expect you to be using that until you get back on track ok?"

"Jeez, what are you my mother?"

"No, I'm you're tutor so you don't fail English, _idiot_."

His eyes narrow at me. "I know what that means."

"_Good, I'm glad you can understand_."

"Whatever."

"_I'm going to talk in English the rest of the night. Use that planner._"

He glares at me and we settle back into our work. I make sure he gets it done. While I'm only tutoring him in English Yukimura has asked me to make sure he does his other work too. Kirihara doesn't seem to care despite the fact I keep poking him whenever he got an answer wrong on his math homework. "Stop poking me." He growls.

"_Stop getting the wrong answer._" I tell him. It's supper time before we finish all our work for the weekend. "_Do you want me to order pizza or something?_"

"Where are your parents?" He asks as we shuffle into the kitchen.

"_Working. Pizza?_"

"Sure."

We settle on a half cheese half pepperoni pizza that I order. While we wait we finish the last of our homework. I go over Kirihara's homework while he works on my own assignment, translating the song that's playing. The pizza arrives and he hasn't finished translating song so I get a bottle of Mountain Dew I kept in the fridge and carried that out to the living room with the pizza. We eat and I watch him translate. He furrows his brow and rewinds the song, he plays the part about four times, I don't blame him the singer is speaking fast and words mesh together. I point out a few key words for him and he fills in the rest. Watching him makes me wonder why he's failing English, he seems to be pretty good at it, I mean enough that he's written about half the song on his own. Whatever the reason I'm going to make sure his grades are back up.

"Iff gaffing fwait." He says finally, I poke him for talking with his mouth full. He swallows. "It's getting late. I'm gonna head home. Same time next week?" He asks.

"_Sure._" I tell him, "_Unless you want to go out with some of your friends. Or something._"

"Same to you." He says. Did he understand what I told him? "If you want to go out with friends it's ok." He must be able to pick out key words and fill in the rest.

"_I just got here Kirihara-San, I don't have any friends yet._"

"Right. Anyways, see ya Monday." He takes the last pizza slice, packs his things and rubs the little black kitten on the top of the head before leaving. The house is suddenly too silent and I change into some work out clothes and go upstairs to run on the treadmill. Music pounds through my ears and I run until I'm ready to collapse. Once I can't take it anymore I take a shower and curl into bed for a much needed sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

When I wake up it's predawn, I go for a jog down the road. It's so warm out and I can feel it's just going to get hotter and hotter. Boy do I miss the mountains. Halfway through my walk I come across another jogger going at a slower pace than me. The black cap is familiar to me. Sanada! I jog beside him and take out my earbuds.

"Good morning Kokawa-San." He says in his usual deep voice, it gives me a tingle in my toes. His voice shouldn't be so deep.

"Good morning Sanada-Senpai." I tell him with a smile.

"Yukimura told me you lived around here."

"Mhm." I nod my head.

Since we're not talking we pick up our pace, just the sound of our sneakers on the pavement. After a while Yanagi jogs down the road and joins up with us. "Good morning Kokawa-San, I didn't know you lived around here, or jog with Sanada in the morning."

"Good morning Yanagi-San. I live a little ways away, and this is the first time I've jogged with Sanada-San before." I tell him. The three of us jog peacefully, it's too hot for me but the boys seem to be dealing just fine so I keep up with them despite how badly I'm sweating.

"Kokawa-San, you can go back home." Yanagi states.

"Ah, no, I'm fine." I suck in air. "It's just too hot."

"You can go back." Sanada agrees. Stubbornly, I continue jogging. Sanada and Yanagi share a look that doesn't pass by me and they turn down a road and start to walk. "C'mon, breakfast on us."

"Oh, you didn't." I stare up at them as we walk into a diner. The few people in the diner stare at us. "Jeez, I'm a mess." I pull awkwardly at my hair that I thankfully pulled into a low ponytail. They don't respond as we sit in a booth, me on my own side. A tiny waitress wanders over and passes out menus to all of us, "Can I get you something to drink?"

"Water please." I respond with a smile.

"Coffee, black." Yanagi says already looking through the menu.

"Water." Sanada nods his head and the waitress leaves. "We come here after we work out Kokawa-San, they're used to it."

"There's a 95% chance they could care less about how their customers because they're glad they have business."

"And the other 5%?" I ask.

"They're just too polite to tell us we smell." I bury my face into the menu trying to hide my embarrassment. The menu has typical breakfast diner food. My stomach grumbles looking at the delicious food.

"Get whatever you want." Sanada says, "My treat. Today, that is."

I nod my head and go back to the menu. The waitress walks back and gives out our drinks. Stupid lemons. Why are lemons in water? I hate lemons. "Are you ready to order?" Sanada and Yanagi both look to me, I flush under their gazes.

"Uhm, can I make my own Grand Slam?" I ask.

"Of course."

"Ok, I want scrambled eggs, wheat toast, the ham slice, and two pancakes." I smile up at the waitress as she scribbles my order down. I figured it was a pretty balanced meal, I'll go home and eat the fresh strawberries Mom brought home last night.

She moves on and Sanada and Yanagi both order something similar to mine. Healthy. I pluck my lemon from my water, "Anyone want the lemon?" Sanada slides his cup closer to mine, I drop the lemon inside and take a long drink of water.

"Lemons are good for you." Yanagi states.

"Yea, they're good diuretics." I grump, "I still don't like them."

Yanagi gives a smile, impressed at my knowledge I hope. I nurse my water swirling the straw around in the cup of water. The two boys start talking tennis and I just listen. It's been two weeks since I've moved here and these guys are the only ones I've ever hung out with, besides yesterday with Yukimura and Kirihara. I suppose I've made friends, there's a few girls I talk to during class and the people in the clubs seem to like me enough, but they're still not as nice as these guys are. I wonder why.

As I ponder our food arrives. The guys say nothing as I greedily eat. I love breakfast but I can never cook good enough. Pancakes melt in my mouth after I smother them with syrup. I love my life.

"You must like breakfast." Sanada comments as I set to work devouring my ham.

"I love breakfast, I can't cook breakfast so I practically gorge myself when I can." Oh, TMI, stupid mouth. I look back to my food embarrassed, then Sanada makes no comment.

"Every Saturday and Sunday and days we don't have practice we jog in the morning. Usually Yukimura joins us but he was busy today." Is that an offer? I let it slide and go back to eating.

.-.

Once my stomach was completely full the three of us left the diner. "Thank you, Sanada-San!" I keep telling him over and over as we walk down the streets. Yanagi is smiling at me and Sanada keeps telling me it's fine. The umpteenth time I said it he glared at me and said it was fine in a firm voice. Shutting up instantly I can't help but skip after Sanada as we walk home. It's still too hot out and I already feel myself sweating off all the calories I just ate.

"Good bye Kokawa-San, Sanada." Yanagi turns and wanders off and then it's just Sanada and myself walking home.

"Sei… Yukimura told me you're tutoring Kirihara, is that true?"

I nod my head, "English, but I'm trying to get all his grades up. Yukimura-San said it would help."

"He's a handful." Sanada warned.

"He's been pretty good so far." I shrug my shoulders not telling him about all the times Kirihara snapped at me over little things in class. Sanada doesn't say anything else and I find that he's a quiet person, there's something under his skin that makes me almost leery around him, like he could snap at any second. Finally he says goodbye and turns into a nice house, I continue walking now completely alone and think I'm going to go to the street courts I found the other day and practice. A quick pit stop at my house and I'm off, usually I try and find something out of the house to do on the weekends, it's so empty without parents to bug me about my life.

I find a small wall in the tennis park and start to bounce the ball continuous, one spot, over and over and over. Backhand, forehand, I keep the ball in the one spot. Tennis comes easy to me, it took a while to hone my skills but I think I'm pretty good.

"Hey!" A voice calls out, I bounce the ball into my hand and turn to see a girl from my art class. "Kokawa-San right?"

"Yea, Mori-San right?" When she nods I know who she is. Mori Kiyomi, my grade, she's in my art class, music class, math class, and my PE class. She has shoulder length brown hair and pretty hazel eyes.

"I was wondering if you'd want to play a match with me. I'm going to try for a regular spot too." She says as we walk to an empty court. "Might as well practice together, right?"

"Sure." We just pass the ball back and forth, she's got good accuracy like me but she's more agile while I use more power. I hope we're not in the same bracket, she's nice, she's one of the few that talk to me in school. After a while we play a more difficult set, playing harder. She keeps up and I hope that we both make it on the team.

"Thanks for playing," She waves and says goodbye. Feeling good about myself I head back home. I wander into the house, dropping my keys on the counter I hear a click of heels on the house, instantly I'm on the defensive. Mom walks in smiling at me.

"Mom?" I ask surprised.

"Hello Dear." She hugs me tightly, "Oh, Amaya, you smell horrible."

"Sorry." I say sheepishly, "I went out jogging with some friends this morning and then I went to play tennis with another friend." I tell her.

"Go shower, and you and me will go have a nice day together. I took today and tomorrow off so you and I can hang out. I feel like I never see you anymore." She complains as I walk down the hall.

"That's because you don't." I grump as I walk into the bathroom. While I'm glad Mom is home it's always time for me to get primped and completely girly. Mom expects me to be a little lady all the time, yet says nothing about my obsession with boys manga and fighting games. I shower and come out smelling like berries and vanilla. Now the big question is what should I wear? I settle on a black skirt with a red tank top and a white cardigan. Mom approves when I come downstairs.

"Someone bought two of the kittens?" She asks as we go out to her shiny black car. "When, who?"

"Uhm, a girl from school bought the grey kitten, and then my friend Yukimura Seiichi took the black kitten."

"Oh, tell me more about your friend." She gives me a wide smile. While I inherited her dark red hair that's all I got, I have my father's blue eyes, his round nose, high cheekbones, and a little too round of a face. Mom is of average height, thin, curves, and she's always attracting the stares of other men. Good thing Dad's never around because he can get quite possessive.

Instead of lingering on the fact that Dad's never around and we could have just as easily stayed in Furano I tell Mom about Yukimura, Sanada, Yanagi, and Kirihara. She listens, her smile never leaves her face as we park and go into a pleasant café. With a cup of hot chocolate I tell Mom about last night and this morning. I tell her about the past two weeks. I just continue to talk. I'm sure what she wants is to do is sleep, she works so hard for no reason. She never says anything as I talk and talk and talk.

"Sounds like you're settling well at school." Mom takes a delicate sip of her tea. She didn't seem fazed that I had two teenage boys over to the house alone yesterday, or that I went out to eat with two different teenage boys this morning. Nothing fazes her, I guess I really have earned her complete trust.

After tea we go out shopping. I hate shopping. Mom always picks incredibly girly stores for me to go to and always demands I put on little dresses and girly shirts to show off. Without a complaint I do what she wants because I don't want to seem ungrateful for spending time with her. Still I think she can read my face and pulls me into another store more suited towards my odd taste of style, she plucks out a mound of clothes and dictates what I wear with what when I show it off. Jean shorts, off the shoulder shirts, button ups, skinny jeans, clothes I'd wear. Mom approves and lets me buy the mound of clothes. Then we're off, a bookstore is our next stop.

"Read any good books lately?" She asks as we skim the isles. That sets me off again telling her all about the books I've read and how good they are.

"Kokawa-San?" I turn and find Yukimura standing at the end of the isle.

"Oh! Hi Yukimura-San!" I didn't know he reads. Mom steps up beside me. "Oh, Mom this is Yukimura-San, this is my Mom Kokawa Eri."

"Pleasure to meet you." Yukimura moved a stack of books to balance in one hand so he could bow to my mother a little better.

"Pleasure to meet you too Yukimura-Chan. I hear you bought one of my kittens. What did you name her?"

"I decided to name her Jun." Yukimura smiles at the two of us.

"That's a cute name." I smile back at him. "I didn't know you read Yukimura-San." I motion to the books while Mom wanders off to the medical magazines.

"I could say the same to you." He replies as I peer at the books he's going to buy.

"Oh, I have these books," I point to the bottom three, "you can borrow them from me instead of buying them."

"Alright." He puts the books back and we stare at books together, it makes me feel awkward because I go for a darker yet still feminine books and Yukimura goes for straight fantasy/adventure. A few minutes later Mom walks over with a book and a magazine.

"Ready Dear?" She asks taking the two books I plucked out from my hands. "Goodbye Yukimura-San, pleasure to meet you." Yukimura repeats the goodbye and Mom and I leave. "Anywhere else?"

"Can we go to a sports store? I'd like to get some new grip tape for my tennis racket." I ask.

"Of course." She nods. "You'll do fine in that tournament. And that Yukimura-Chan is a cutie." She grins.

"Mom!" I moan. "Yukimura-San is just a friend."

"Mhm, still…" Mom smiles, "He's rather feminine isn't he though?"

"Yea, but he's really strict to the team." I say absentmindedly.

.-.

After a huge day of shopping Mom and I settle into the couch, we both have facial masks on and she's painting my toenails a bright shade of pink while we watch kid's movies. While she paints I eat mounds of popcorn and watch her. When she finishes she grabs my hands and gives my fingers black French tips. "All beautiful." She smiles, "Now don't smudge them." We stay quiet while our nails dry. Once they're dry I take a handful of popcorn and throw it at Mom. Her jaw drops and she turns to me, her wide green eyes instantly narrow and she throws popcorn back at me. The popcorn war begins. Only when the bowl is empty and most of the popcorn is either on the floor, stuck in the couch, or down my or Mom's shirt we stop. We're giggling like little girls and it's days like these I wish Mom was around more often but there's always things that push away and I like my solitude.

"Go to bed, Dear, we'll have another girl day tomorrow." She shoos me and I go upstairs and open my laptop. I chat to my old friends for a while and zone out to music. Then I get a ping on Facebook. Sanada? He wants to know if I wanted to go for a walk in the morning, Yanagi's turn to buy breakfast, and Yukimura would be joining us. I agree and set my alarm for 5 before I head to bed.


	4. Chapter 4

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

A/N: Thanks to you guys who reviewed on the last few chapters, it's made me smile. Also the error in Ch. 3 has been changed, thanks for noticing it.

.-.

"_Boy you got my heartbeat runnin' away. Beating like a drum and it's coming your way. Can't you hear that boom, badoom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, bass. Yeah that's that super bass_." My phone began vibrating and singing telling me it was time to get up. I groan and I grope for my phone before turning it off. Literally rolling out of bed I jolt myself awake and change into a pair of shorts and a tank top before going downstairs.

"Mom?" I ask, she's sitting on the counter drinking a cup of coffee.

"Good morning." She smiles at me, "Where are you going so early?"

"Out on a jog with my friends… uhm… do you want to get breakfast after?"

"That would be lovely." She smiles.

"Ok, I'll be back shortly." I tell her before stepping into my sneakers. Yukimura is outside my door. "I thought you live on the other side of town." I tell him.

"I do."

"How early do you get up in the morning?" I ask as we jog down the road together. He chuckles and doesn't respond. Sanada and Yanagi meet up and the four of us jog in silence. Somehow it feels natural, to jog with these guys, I never had anyone to jog with back home so I just ran on the treadmill or on some mountain trails, I could do without the heat though. When we reach the diner I tell them I have plans with my mom and jog back home. After a speedy shower Mom and I go out and spend another day together with my mom. After breakfast we go to the movies and watch two different movies before we get lunch and go home. She tells me we're going home early because she doesn't want me out late on a school night.

"Mom, can I go play tennis?" I ask.

"Sure, can I come watch?" She smiles at me. Clearly Mom works because she has no hobbies and she has no hobbies because she works.

So, the two of us, me dressed in shorts and a tank and her in a skirt, heels and a tunic, go to the tennis courts. People oogle her as we go to the wall I practiced at yesterday. She sits on a bench, reading and occasionally watching me practice. I set up cans and hit them in a certain order, practicing aim and power and whatever else I can manage from just playing by myself. Once I'm drenched in sweat the two of us head back home.

"You're good." Mom tells me as we walk.

"Thanks." I reply without thinking about how good I was. I need to focus and then I'll see how good I am tomorrow.

.-.

My matches are after school for the first day. Good. All through school that's all I can think about, the matches. Kiyomi stares at me all through class trying to snap me from my funk. Nothing works. I awkwardly follow Kiyomi into the locker rooms after school, we change and I hurry to the courts to get on with my first of many matches. Two today, three tomorrow, three Wednesday. The first match was easy, just some preppy girl who thought she was good. I beat her 6-0. On a roll I'm ready for my next match despite the fact I need to wait. Finally my match starts, it one of the regulars. Yamasaki Kazumi. Fake blond hair and fake neon blue eyes.

Her serve was weak, weaker than the first girl I faced. I took the first game by return aces. She glares at me and I kick the game up beating her with my fast serves. Now she's clearly angry, she didn't get to touch my serves. I can feel the power in her shots but I can return them, she gets it back and a volley starts. I wouldn't lie and say I wasn't surprised by her ability because I was. Despite how bad she appeared she kept up with me. Still I was toying with her for the longest time. Something snapped inside her when I won the fourth game. She started to go all out and surprised me, taking the next two games from me.

"Take that!" She yells at me.

I'm not fazed as I watch her bounce a tennis ball a few times. She tosses it into the air and it bounces just in front of me, spinning upwards to hit me in the face, I step back and hit the ball only to have it spin into the net. Crap. She serves the same shot again. I hit a rising shot, a shot I'm trying to perfect and it manages to fly over the net. The time difference got Yamasaki and I got the point.

She hit the serve again and I hit the rising shot again. Might as well perfect it while I have the chance. She's prepared this time and our volley starts up again. The blond is a typical player, no exceptionally special moves besides the serve, she doesn't use a split step, no rising shot, no smashes. Still, she managed to get on the regulars, maybe because people were afraid of her. She keeps yelling at me and it is intimidating but I don't want to give up my chance of making the team.

At last! Sweet success! Yamasaki throws her racket against the ground and storms off upset she lost to me 6-3. The captain of the girl's tennis team, Kichida Hisoka, gives me and the other girls that finished their matches permission to go home. I shower and change here since I feel I'm wasting so much water at home. As I walk towards the gate I hear someone calling my name. I turn and see Kirihara running towards me.

"Kokawa-San," He stops in front of me, "I… I need help with my English homework, do you have a minute?"

"Sure." I tell him and we settle on a nearby bench so I can help. It's some more difficult questions, why a sentence isn't sounding correctly, what this word is and what it means, and how do you pronounce this word. I help him for a few minutes before the redhead from the other day pops up in front of us snapping a bright green bubble gum.

"Hey, Kirihara, we're going out for burgers. Are you coming or do you need to be tutored again?" The redhead glances at me before snapping another bubble.

"_I don't believe we've met._" I smile with the sickly sweetness my mother taught me. "_I'm Kokawa Amaya._" He snaps a bubble.

"_Marui Bunta._" He replies dully.

"_Do you understand a lot of English? Because if not then you're just a hypocrite. Some people have difficulties with another language, especially English since it's completely different than Japanese._" I've caught him, his purple-ish eyes stare at me. "See ya later Kirihara-San." I press a piece of paper with my cell phone number into his hand before I walk off.

.-.

There's a knock on my door at about 5pm. Curious I investigate and find Kirihara standing there. "Ah, hi." He scratches the back of his neck.

"Hi, come in." I step aside and let him by. "What's up?"

"Uhm, I'm here to buy the black cat." He said. "My mom told me I could."

"Oh, alright." I bring him into the guest bathroom where the kittens are sleeping. "What are you going to name him?"

"Masahiko." Kirihara hoists the kitten up who meows at him. "Hiko for short."

"I like." I tell him as he pays me.

"Thanks." He says before sauntering away. "See you tomorrow Kokawa-San."

And just like that he's gone. What a weird boy. I stare down at the white kitten who peers up at me. "Now to find you a home Orphan."

.-.

Kirihara avoids me in class while Kiyomi is quickly becoming my friend. Yukimura, Sanada, and Yanagi ate lunch with me under the tree and I think it's going to become our regular thing. Practice is easy because my opponents are just wannabes without much skill. It leaves me frustrated until I see I get to face Buchou tomorrow. That's why Yamasaki was so upset, she's already lost to Buchou 6-1, she's out of her regular spot. My mood brightens as I skip through the school with Kiyomi at my side. We were going out to a little café to gorge ourselves on some well deserved sweets.

Suddenly Kiyomi started to sing at the top of her lungs, "_He's a, good time-_" and since I knew the song we both started belting out lyrics, "_cowboy Casanova. Leaning up against the record machine! He looks like a cool drink of water but he's candy-coated misery! He's the devil in disguise, a snake with blue eyes and he only comes out at night! Gives you the feeling you don't want to fight, you better run for your life!_" We're giggling and laughing and it feels like I have a real friend.

"What are you guys singing?" Yukimura giggles from his spot on the hill.

"Cowboy Casanova!" We say at the same time, we look at each other awed, "That was weird…. We did it again! Ah!" And we lose ourselves laughing. Kiyomi and I have quite quickly became friends. She's sat with me in class yesterday and today, and today we even ate lunch together. She talks to me on Facebook all the time too. Kiyomi's friendly and open and the instant friendship between us is completely new to me.

"Bye Yukimura-San!" I wave to him as we skip down the streets. "I like American music." I say randomly to Kiyomi as we walk.

"Oh my gosh me too!" Kiyomi and I trade iPods and go through each others music. She has a lot of the same taste I do and I can tell we're going to be good friends. Once we get to the café we order so much food and settle in a booth in the back. Muffins, cupcakes, various drinks, cookies, sweet foods. "Hmmm!" Kiyomi takes a bite of a muffin. "Oh, try this, it's delicious." I rip off a hunk and try the lemon poppy seed muffin, and it is delicious!

We eat until we're sure our stomachs are going to burst. Since we're both feeling the burn we waddle our way to the tennis courts and play a light match to burn off all the calories we just devoured. From there we say goodbye, we're not good enough friends to go over to each other's houses despite how open and talkative we are. Kiyomi can talk and talk about everything and it opens me up to talk too. Actually, when I get home and turn on my computer she pings me on Facebook.

Not only does Kiyomi talk to me on Facebook, Yukimura talks to me all the time. We've become close too, not as instantly bonded close as Kiyomi and I are but I've grown to trust Yukimura. I turn in early and get some well needed rest for my matches tomorrow.


	5. Chapter 5

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

Super Bass wakes me up again in the morning. I gather my things for school and prepare myself for my morning tennis match. The kittens mewl at me as I get my lunch ready. Mom's decided they can wander around the house now and I constantly have to make sure I'm not stepping on the white kitten or Juice as they stay close to my feet whenever possible. I give them a kiss and head out to see a black capped male standing by the gate to my house.

"Good morning Sanada-Senpai." I walk up beside him.

"Good morning Kokawa-San." He and I start walking to school. Us walking to school is becoming rather regular (does two days make something regular?) since we went out jogging over the weekend. Granted we never really talk much it's still nice to have someone to walk to school with since everyone else, it seems, is avoiding me.

"Are you dealing better with the heat?" Sanada asked randomly.

"Huh?" His question takes me by surprise, "Ah, ok, I guess. It's still hot."

"It's just going to get hotter." I groan. "You do realize you're going to have to play tennis in this heat, right?"

"Yea, I know." I tell him with a shrug as we arrive to at the school.

"Good luck with your matches." He says before going to the boys locker room. I change quickly and head to the court to find a girl with long brown hair waiting on Court C, I'm glad my match is first this morning because I don't want to be late for school. After a quick stretch I head to the courts and shake hands with her.

I have first serve and I don't go easy on her, hitting my fastest serve I could manage. My height, since I'm slightly taller than average, gives me an advantage and I can get more speed into my shots. The girl misses the first serve, but she tried. I hit it again. She hits it but it faults. Again and she hits it over the net and I hit a rising shot getting my point. Game point, she missed the ball by centimeters. Her serve. I'm curious about her skill, I've already shown her I mean business. Her serve is fast and light, I wasn't expecting it to be so light, it flies out of the court. Damn. She serves again, I race to return it only to find it's incredibly heavy. The ball smacks into the net. How can she hit such light and heavy shots one right after the other. Again she serves. I watch the ball carefully, it's heavy I guess. I hit with force and it flies over the net. Hurray! She was too surprised to return. She serves again. I guess… heavy! I hit with force and get it right. The next serve was light.

I figured it out, the heavier ball flies lower and isn't as fast, it's minute and I really need to focus but I lock that serve. My turn, I keep up with my fast serve, her reaction time improves and she's able to hit the ball over the net after another three serves. The girl starts up a volley and we last for a while before she trips over her feet. Her leg starts to spasm, she didn't stretch. She cries out in pain and the ref, a third year regular, races to her side and calls the game a default. What an amateur mistake. At least my match is over. I change and freshen up before heading to homeroom.

.-.

English comes around and Kirihara sits at my desk and passes his homework over, red marks are all over the page. This was the homework I helped him with. How could he get so many red marks? He's gripping his pencil so tight I think he's going to break it as I go over the answers. "Hey, stop that." I rap my pencil on his knuckles causing him to release the pencil. My hand shoots into the air as Natsumi-Sensei continues to hand out homework. When she's done she comes over and peers down at the page. "This answer is right, I even wrote the same thing on mine. And this one, you're answer is incorrect, the grammar is wrong Sensei, Kirihara's answers are correct." I show her my paper, not only are our answers incredibly similar I've got all mine correct.

"I'll look over it." She replies taking both our papers and walking off.

"She hates me." Kirihara's back to squeezing his pencil tightly.

I look to the girl sitting beside me, she has light pink hair and glasses, "Hey, um Kawano-San, would you care if you and Kirihara switched seats?"

"What?" Kirihara snapped, gripping his pencil tightly.

"Ah, sure?" She nods and gathers her things.

"If I'm tutoring you," I hiss at Kirihara, "I'm going to make sure that you have the notes and are paying attention in class. Now stop that." I rap his knuckles again and he, clearly angry, gathers his things and sits in the desk next to me with a huff.

"I hate English." He groans stabbing his pencil against his paper. I roll my eyes and begin to take notes. It does appear that Natsumi-Sensei picks on Kirihara quite a lot and it only agitates him more. The bell rings and Kirihara has managed to break three pencils, he throws his stuff in his bag and I grab the shoulder strap just as he starts to walk away. "What?" He snaps at me.

"Don't snap at me Kirihara-Kun." I glare at him, "I wanted to tell you that whether you like it or not I'm going to get your grades back on track, all of them."

"I already knew that." He pulls the strap from my hand and goes away. Boy, I'd hate to see whoever gets on the wrong end of his anger issues. Oh well, it's time for lunch, I go to the library and spend it finishing up bits of homework. In Biology Kirihara avoids me all class, he's calmed down since English and I wonder who or what he snapped at.

Then it's off to art class. I like art class with Kiyomi we have some girly time to ourselves. We sit in the back row and the Sensei says nothing while we giggle and do our work at the same time. He chides other people for talking too loud but never says anything to us. I think it's because we're good students.

.-.

After school, my first match is a long match with a third year, I barely manage to win 6-7. She was strong, tall, and fast. With a few minutes before my next match I go over to the hill and down a bottle of water and stretch. The boys are having a normal practice, their rules for joining the team are different, they just have to pass a few simple tests from what I've seen, to be a regular is a little blurred for me, I think they need to defeat a regular to become a regular. Or Yukimura asks them. I'm not sure. I suppose I'll have to ask sometime.

The silver haired regular from a few days ago was picking on some first years. "Niou Masaharu!" Yukimura yelled, "Fifty laps! Stop picking on the first years or next time it'll be a hundred laps!"

The silver haired boy groans and starts to run his laps. He runs by me and notices me watching him. His next lap he winks at me and I roll my eyes back at him. The next lap he says a quick hi. On his next run by I say hi back. It's like an incredibly slow conversation, is this how slow turtles talk to each other? I stand and walk back to the courts for my match. "Good luck, Ladybug!" Niou runs by me again. Ladybug? No, focus. I have to a match with Buchou.

Buchou, Kichida Hisoka, is rather intimidating, she's tall, curvy, and has these bright green eyes that burn into your soul. With one look she makes you want to drop your racket and run screaming in the other direction. I grip my racket tighter and stand my ground. She won't intimidate me out of this match, I plan on fighting with everything I've got.

That's just what I did. Buchou had the first serve, her serve is incredibly fast and zips by me. Crap. She hits it again and I return the ball back over the net. And a long volley started, she tried to control the game, making me run back and forth along the baseline so I hit shots that should be difficult for her to return. I aim for the deep corners and she does too. I rush the net suddenly and smash the ball getting a point.

Our game lasts for some time, Buchou quickly picks out flaws in my play, she hits low bouncing shots because my knees are weak. She purposefully lengthens the match which only makes it harder on me. Finally my knee gives and Buchou get's the final point. I lost 2-6. Forcing myself to my feet I shake hands with Hisoka.

"Good game." She tells me with her straight face.

"Good game." I repeat.

My knees are on fire and I greedily suck down another water bottle. Kiyomi flops down next to me on the bench and pokes my knees. I wince and slap at her hands.

"Stretch." She says, "It'll help." Without question I start doing squats and other stretches. Despite the burn I keep doing them until Kiyomi pats my shoulder and we go inside to change. "We're going to make Regulars." She said.

"Are we?" I ask pulling my shirt over my head.

"Yea, we've only lost one game in our brackets, so we're the second place winners for the brackets." We leave and I look curiously to see it's true, Kiyomi only lost to a girl named Sasaki Setsuko. "Co-Captain." Kiyomi said as way of explanation. "Hey, this weekend, why don't we get together?"

"Sure." I tell her. "Hey, I should probably tell you this now before you find out on your own… I'm rich."

"Like how rich?"

"Like I could easily go to Hyotei Academy, own a Mercedes, have the newest electronics, and still be able to afford to go on a giant shopping spree each weekend."

"Wow." Kiyomi tucked her hands behind her head, "I never pegged you for a rich kid. I want to see your place." She demands.

"Alright, Friday, come over after school." I tell her.

"Alright!" Kiyomi tosses her hands into the air, "See ya later Kokawa-Chan!" And she prances off, I wonder if she'll look at me differently now and wonder what I can buy her instead of the fun times we could have together. I hate being rich.

"Hey, why the long face?" A deep voice asked. I turn and watch Sanada walk towards me, he keeps his hat low as he walks.

"Nothing, just thinking." I tell him as I try and figure out why he won't hold his head up. Sanada is a proud, respectful guy. "Is practice over already?"

"Yea." He responds. We walk in silence for a while. "Why don't you come over tonight for supper? Meet my family."

"Ah, sure…" I glance at Sanada, he's acting funny but I brush it off because I don't know him very well.

"Alright, 5pm sharp." With that he jogs ahead of me. Weird.


	6. Chapter 6

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

So at five, I put on a nice dress and shoes, I know Sanada has a traditional family. It's a short walk to his house. His house is really different than mine, his is completely traditional while mine is modern, clearly my dad had our house built for us. I guess I never really thought about how my house doesn't fit in with the other houses. My house is two stories, and a large square. Most of the other houses are a single story, traditional roofing, and are wider than they are longer. I wander up to Sanada's house, he pointed it out the other day to me.

_Knock, knock_.

There's a pause before the door opens revealing an older man, he's got to be Sanada's grandfather. "Hello." He smiles wide at me.

"Ah, hi, I'm here to see Sanada Genichiro?"

"Come in," He lets me by and I stand in the entry awkward, "Gen! There's some lovely girl here to see you!" Wouldn't he know about me coming over for dinner? I highly doubt Sanada would keep this to himself. We wait for a moment, "Oh, where is that boy?"

"He's probably in the dojo." A woman, Sanada's mother pokes her head into the room and smiles at me. "You're welcome to check…"

"I-I'm Kokawa Amaya." I bow.

"So you're the new girl." Sanada's mother smiles. "I'm Sanada Haruko."

"Sanada Genemon." The old man says. "C'mon I'll take you to the dojo!" I follow the man to the dojo which is outback, why can't I have my own dojo? Right, I don't know any martial arts. "Right in there, quiet though, he's probably mediating." And with that, the old man disappears. I take a breath, bow my head and step into the quiet dojo. Sanada is kneeling on the floor, hands on his lap, eyes closed. The wood creaks when I step on it and Sanada looks over at me and his eyes widen.

"Kokawa-San? Is something wrong?"

"No, didn't you ask me to have dinner with your family tonight?" I ask.

He turns to me, "What no, I didn't."

"Then who-?"

"Niou." Sanada breaths, his fist clench in his lap. "I'm sorry Kokawa-San."

"It's alright, I should have known." I drop my head, embarrassed I fell for such a trick. Sanada groans. "Wait, Sanada, don't talk to Niou, I want to have some fun with this if that's ok with you." I smirk, if Niou wants to tease me then he's in for trouble.

"Alright." I tell Sanada my plan and he shakes his head. "Do what you wish…" He turns back and closes his eyes. I watch him feeling incredibly awkward, he's wearing a traditional outfit and looks so incredibly mature I would never think he's a high schooler. "Would you care to stay for dinner?"

"If I wouldn't be imposing." I replied sheepishly.

"You wouldn't." He replies solidly.

"Ok." I say watching him stand, he leads me back into the house, informs his Mom I'll be staying for dinner and we go up to his room. Now I feel a zillion times more awkward while Sanada seems completely normal, then again I can't read his emotions under his straight face. He lets me settle at his computer desk while he sits on the edge of my bed.

"I'm sorry about Niou tricking you." He says as he takes a book from the desk.

"It's alright, I'll get him back… as long as you don't mind me making it awkward." I respond.

"It won't effect me. Niou will have to face his punishment either way."

"Oh, don't punish him until after I talk to him, that would ruin everything."

"Aa." He nods his head and looks to his book. I twirl awkwardly in the computer chair and pluck at the edge of my dress. "You're welcome to turn the TV on." He says without looking up from his book. I make a noise of distress and he glances up at me and turns on the small TV hanging on his wall before he hands me the remote and going back to his book.

"Sanada-Senpai… I didn't know you read." I comment idly as I flip through channels.

"Aa." He's back to his non-talkative self, I settle on a trivia show. After a while Sanada makes a comment, "You know quite a lot." "Huh?" Then I flush, "I've been answering the questions haven't I?"

He nods, still not taking his eyes from his book.

"Sorry!" I pout, I hate the fact I can't stop myself from blurting out answers to these shows. Sanada says nothing in response, I'm sure if I were bothering him he'd tell me.

"What was the first home version of a Nintendo arcade game?" The host asked.

"Donkey Kong!" I say just as the person on the game guesses "Pac Man." I groan since I've got the answer right. If only they could hear me.

"What colors do color blind people have trouble distinguishing?"

"Red and green." I say. "They should reword that question. I know people that can't see purple."

"Aa." Was all Sanada said.

"What bird is used as the sign of peace?" I face-palm myself, why can't I get on one of these shows?

"What so-called 'war' spawned the dueling slogans 'Better Dead than RED' and 'Better Red than Dead' in the 1950's?"

"The Cold War?" I guess, the "so-called 'war'" gave me the hint I needed.

"Aa." Sanada agreed.

"Each year the moon moves away from the Earth by how much?"

"Ahhh…." I shake my head I don't know.

"Two inches." Sanada muttered. I look to him and then back to the show, he got it right. "Supper should be almost done." He puts his book away and we walk downstairs together. I'm introduced to his father, Sanada Genjirou. His mother happily welcomes me as we settle around the dinner table.

"So, are you a classmate of Gen's?" His mom asks.

"No, I'm a year younger." I tell them.

"Oh, how did you meet?" His grandfather is quite intent on leaning as close to me as possible, he seems rather lively for being so old.

"On accident, a gust of wind blew some papers from my hands and he and Yanagi-Senpai, and Yukimura-Senpai helped me." It's the truth, just muted.

"Oh, how nice. I knew I raised Gen to be a polite young man."

"He is." I nod my head and give her a smile.

"You're the family that just moved in right?" Genjirou asks, "Where did you come from?"

"Furano." I just want to eat people!

"That's a long ways away… what brought you here?"

"Grandfather, I'm sure Kokawa-San would like to eat." Sanada looked up from his bowl of miso soup.

"Ah, sorry, eat, we'll talk later." I send Sanada a smile and go to eating my food.

After supper we gather in a little living room where Haruko pours everyone tea. "So, what brings you here?" Genemon asks.

"My father runs a computer business." I say, "Wa-Ware." I mentally snicker at the name. "And there's a site near here that needed his management."

"How interesting." Haruko smiles as I sip my tea.

They ask me random questions about my life, I give short answers not wanting them to find out about the lack of parents at home. Finally Sanada's father decides it's time for me to go home and Sanada is to accompany me home. We walk silently down the road, it's dark and there's a few street lights on to light our way.

"Thanks for having me over… even though I sorta invited myself." I chuckle awkwardly.

"It's no problem. My family is taken with you." He says.

"Yea, I noticed." I had some effect on people that made them love me instantly or hate me instantly. We're at my house before I know it. We say goodbye and he walks off. There's a black car in the parking lot and I run inside happy to see Mom. She peers at me when I walk in.

"Who was that boy?"

"Sanada Genichiro, he's one of my friends. I had dinner with his family." I explain following her back into the living room where she was playing with Juice and her sister.

"That's nice." She says absently. Something's wrong. I stand and watch her delicate fingers tickle my kitten's stomach. "You're father is moving again. He has an international client looking into opening Wa-Ware stores… he's going to help set them up."

"I'm not moving." I say surely.

"I know." She looks up at me, "He wants me to move with him."

"But." I stop, I need a parent don't I?

"I told him no don't worry." She smiles but it's melancholy, "I'm going to miss him." We never see him anyways what's there to miss? "He promises when he gets this client down he'll lay back and be home more often." Lie. "He says he misses you." Lie. "He wants to see you grow up." Maybe lie.

"Well, I'm going to bed." I tell her rather curtly before heading to my bedroom. Upon walking in there's a moment of "Where-the-hell-am-I?" and I have to lean on the wall and tell myself this is my room. It looks unfamiliar to me after all these weeks. I want Sanada's room, a small rectangle just big enough for his bed, a night stand, a desk, a dresser and a bookcase. It's cozy and comfortable. My room is twice the size and the only thing different about what we have in the room is I have a large stereo system and a Wii set up and a small chair and table. It's too open, my bed's too big, the house is too empty. I fall face first into my bed and start to cry. Stupid father. He's never around yet I'm crying because he's leaving. He's always absent but for some reason him being half way around the world is unbearable to think about.

.-.

A/N: I made up Sanada's parents name but I found his grandfather's name on some site (it makes me think of Digimon)


	7. Chapter 7

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed it means a lot to me. And thanks to everyone who's added this story to their alerts or favorites! I just want to say that this story has a small plot, but I know where I want this to end despite how long it is. I already have the first 13 chapters uploaded, and the reason I haven't dumped them all on you is because school is starting up so that will take over my writing time just as a warning. Thanks for sticking with the story this long everyone!

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

Super Bass is ringing and my phone's vibrating in my pocket. I sit up and realize I fell asleep completely clothed. Crap! I race into the bathroom to change into a clean uniform and to rub the sleep and tears from my face. No matter how much makeup I put on the bags under my eyes still shine through so I give up and trudge downstairs. Mom kisses my forehead, hands me a lunch and ushers me to her car.

"Have a good day at school Dear." She calls as she stops in front of the school. The second I close the door she's gone. Wonderful. Since I'm cranky I head straight for homeroom and pray nobody will bother me at all today.

Nobody bothers me. They avoid me at all costs. Even Kiyomi is distant. English class is different, Kirihara is actually in a good mood, he actually gives me a smile which I return with a glare. "Wow, someone's PMS-ing." He grumped flopping into the seat next to me. I've snapped at everyone today, Kiyomi in music class, and my geography and home ec teacher, since I'm so nice usually the teachers let me go with a strict warning.

"Yea, I'm Putting up with Men's Shit." I glare at him.

"Touchy today aren't we?" He smiles.

"And what put you in such a good mood huh? You're the one snapping at me."

He takes out a folded piece of paper, it's pink and has hearts on it. I know what it is before he says it. It's some confession from a fan girl, the senpais talk about getting confessions all the time. "Some girl confessed to me." I feel my heart tighten. "It wasn't you now was it Kokawa-San?" He smirks.

"Hell no." I snap. "Does that look like my handwriting?" I point to his name written in flowing writing. "Besides, all I've only ever seen you be an asshole. Why would I confess to someone like that?" He just rolls his eyes and tucks the letter back into his bag. "Oh, you can't come over Friday. Kiyomi's coming over."

"But." He looks up, his eyes shocked. "I need help."

I sigh, "Ok, what day do you want to come over?"

He grabs my black bag that I carry with me and digs my planner out. Then he takes out his black planner and searches through. "How about Saturday?"

"Sure. I'm going running with Sanada-San, Yanagi-San, and Yukimura-San that morning… I'm pretty sure you'd be welcome to join if you wanted." I offer.

"Yea, I'll ask Yukimura, he lives nearby." Kirihara said idly. "Hey, you're in a better mood." I glare at him and he grins, "Guess I spoke too soon. So are you PMS-ing or what?"

"I'm not going to tell you if I'm on my period or not."

"True, that's awkward." I roll my eyes.

.-.

PE is my last class of the day, Kiyomi and I and that Kawano girl have class together. Kiyomi can't hide her excitement, "We get to know if we really made the team or not." She says bouncing over and over again.

"You know we did." I tell her as we walk around the gym to cool down after a game of basketball. Basketball is annoying, I hate the squeaky shoes, the back and forth running, and I have miserable aim. I hate basketball.

"Well Buchou has the final say." She shrugs as we walk. "Oh, I'm so excited… oooh we have our schedule too." Yea, that's fun, I'm going to have to balance tennis practice with my clubs. Archery would be the first to go, we haven't had a meeting and so far I've been busy most weekends. The other clubs are just like normal classes. Oh crap, today's the Photography Club meeting, glad I took my photos over the weekend. Maybe that needs to go… the only class I'm completely into is the book club. I like reading and it's only once a month. Suppose I'll have to talk to someone about my options.

Kiyomi suddenly grabs my hand and we race off, we don't even bother changing as we run to tennis courts to see the large board that used to hold the four brackets and schedules for matches now held a list of regulars and new members. I skim the regulars list. Kiyomi grabs my arm and we squeal, we made regulars. We're the only two new regulars on the team. Captain was Kichida Hisoka, Co-Captain Sasaki Setsuko. And the other members were Hayashi Chie, Hayashi Madoka, Kiyomi and myself, Fujita Tsukiko and Imai Hoshi. I was surprised to see that Imai was a second year as well.

"Alright! Line up!" Buchou announced and everyone rushed onto the courts, Kiyomi and I awkwardly stood beside Imai as the newest regulars. Imai has short, spunky black hair and dark brown eyes, she's about Kiyomi's height which is a few inches shorter than me, I guessed they were both around 5'5". "We will have morning practices on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, be here at 5:30 sharp. We have practice after school everyday except Fridays and will run until 5 most nights. Weekends are off for now. When the District Tournaments start up be prepared to have longer practices. First years practice swings! Second years practice your serves. Third years practice matches! Regulars with me!" Buchou barked and everyone scattered. She lead us into the girl's locker room into a small office she shared with Yukimura. Everyone stands around the desk.

Her green eyes glint at Kiyomi and myself. "As you probably noticed we have two new members. Yamasaki-San and Kojima-San were dropped from the team."

"'Bout time they left." A tall, dark haired girl muttered.

"Oi, be nice." A girl with dark blue hair and glasses chided.

"It's true!" The girl rolled her eyes and turned to us, "It's a pleasure to have you two on the team. I'm Fujita Tsukiko."

"Mori Kiyomi." My brunette friend said cheerfully.

"Kokawa Amaya." I nod my head.

Introductions were passes around, the girl with blue hair was Hayashi Chie known for her data tennis and bouncy personality. Sasaki Setsuko, Co-Captain, had long black hair, brown eyes, and a rather meek attitude. And Hayashi Madoka, Hayashi Chie's twin, had long, navy blue hair and golden eyes and was just as carefree as her older twin.

"Now, since we usually made Yamasaki and Kojima our Doubles 2 team." Kichida said ("Yea, a free game." Tsukiko muttered.) "We need to go through various pairing to find a team to replace them. We all know the Hayashi twins will be our Doubles 1 team." The two blue haired girl's high-fived. "That's what we're going to focus on, everyone be prepared to play doubles with various other members. Do either of you play doubles?" I shake my head, I've never had anybody to play with. Kiyomi shakes her head too. Good. We're both newbies. "Alright then, Chie you're with Kiyomi-San and Madoka with Amaya-San." And with that we're back out to the courts.

"So you've never played doubles before?" Madoka asks as we wander towards a court. When I shake my head she smiles, "Fun, teaching newbies is the best. Do you know the basics?"

"Ah I've seen people play doubles before." It's about sharing the court and knowing where your partner is.

"Well, the best way to learn is to play." She nods her head to her sister, "You stay at the net and I get the serve, alright?" I nod and stand ready. Kiyomi looks nervous, I feel it in my stomach too. I've never played doubles before. Chie serves and the ball zips by me, Madoka catches it and taunts her sister, "Is that all you got?"

"Got it." Chie replied to Kiyomi as she started to move to return the ball. She waited and Chie hit the ball in my direction. I call it and catch it and pass it over the net. In basic, doubles isn't that hard, it's when you don't know where your partner is because she so used to having a partner that knows how she moves that it gets difficult. Instead of focusing on the game I'm trying to find Madoka to know if I can return a ball without running into her or not. We lose our game 4-6. Chie was more aware of letting Kiyomi know where she was and if she could get the ball, Madoka wasn't. It was clear who was usually the net player of the two.


	8. Chapter 8

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Warnings: Sex is mentioned briefly and vaguely in this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

The rest of practice is either myself or Kiyomi being tossed around like spare puzzle pieces, it appeared they were trying every possibility. Buchou told us this would last a few days. Finding a good doubles team took time apparently. Buchou asks Kiyomi and I to fill out a slip of paper and give it to her before we leave. I stare at it trying to figure out what it is.

"Ah!" Kiyomi tackles me, "It's for our uniforms! Oh I'm so excited!" We fill out our sizes and I realize then I never took note of the uniforms, the non-regulars wore their gym clothes (blue, green or red colored short shorts, based on year, and a white tank top), but Kiyomi says that's just for when they practice, during tournaments they have uniforms too. The regulars were wearing yellow tank tops with the black stripe, right across the boobs, and white skirts. They have the yellow and black wind breaker jackets and pants. It's exactly like the boys tennis outfits. Hurray, I get to look like a bumblebee.

After the paper is filled out and handed it back to Buchou I leave to find Yukimura. He's sitting on the hill alone, when he notices me he smiles instantly. Sanada is yelling at the regulars and smacks Kirihara on the back of the head. Poor kid.

"What's up Kokawa-San? Did practice go well?"

I nod and sit next to him, "Yea, I made the regulars."

"Congratulations." He smiles warmly at me.

"Thanks. But, here's the thing," I take out my planner and fill in the days we have practice for the next month, "two of my clubs are on days we have tennis practice. I've already decided I'm going to talk to Buchou about my book club since it's every third Wednesday." I show Yukimura the fact that the art club and the photography club are going to conflict with tennis practice. "What do I do?"

"Tennis has become your priority." Yukimura said gently. "You should talk to the Presidents of the other two clubs to see if you can do your work during mornings or lunch. I think Hisoka-San will allow you to go to the book club, if not I'll tell her it's worth it." He flashes me a wide smile, hurray.

"Alright… I think I'll just resign from the other two clubs, I mean I like art and photography but it's just something I do for fun." I shrug and relax against the tree watching Sanada bark orders at the tennis club. "Why aren't you ordering them around?"

Yukimura smiles, "I'm feeling a little tired and Sanada wouldn't let me coach anymore."

"Oh?" I say.

"I used to have a serious illness… and now whenever I cough or feel down the team panics, it's almost cute."

"Ladybug!" Niou calls out to me, I wave back and Sanada smacks the back of his head. Niou dips his head and runs off to help some first years.

"Ladybug?" Yukimura asked.

"I have no idea. I have never even really met him yet." Yet I plan on making his life incredibly awkward.

"Be careful, Niou is quite the trickster… he's bound to pull a prank on you." Oh he has, but I'm not one to mess with. I smile at Yukimura and thank him for his advice. Then it's the end of their practice and the boys all run to the locker rooms. I wait for "Sanada" to show up. The second I see the black cap I know it's Niou, Sanada never hangs his head low, I should have known yesterday. We walk in silence for some time.

"Did you have a fun time last night?" He asks, Niou matched Sanada's voice perfectly. It's rather creepy.

"Oh, I did! I had so much fun! Didn't you? I mean…" I look down at my feet as we walk, "I know we had a little bit too much to drink…"

"Ah?" Sanada-Niou sounded confused.

"Oh," I look up at him with sad eyes, "you don't remember do you… amazing though… you were so good and sweet and nice." I loop my arm with his. "I'm glad you were my first."

Sanada-Niou chokes clearly confused.

"I'm surprised you don't remember, we did get wasted though… Oh, I wish you'd remember since you were my first after all… I meant to say this last night but you know," I giggle and blush, "we got a little preoccupied and all… anyways. I wasn't surprised when you said I wasn't your first… what I was surprised by was that Niou-Senpai was your first. That certainly full me for a loop."

Sanada-Niou coughs and clears his throat rather loudly, I glance at him and he pulls his cap lower over his eyes but it can't hide the deep red blush on his face. "I'd rather we keep our personal life private Kokawa-San."

"Right… right…" I scratch behind my head, "Sorry, I just well, you know, I'm new to this whole thing. Does this mean we're going out now? 'Cause if that's true than shouldn't you be with Niou-Senpai?" I peer up at him, "Why won't you look at me Sanada-San?"

"N-no reason." He mumbles.

I roll my eyes and reach up and take his black hair in my fingers and pull, the wig and hat fall away and Niou looks down at me, his silver hair spiking back up. He's flushed and I hope I made his life awkward. "Hi Niou-Senpai. I'm Kokawa Amaya, I don't believe we've met. I did not have sex with Sanada-San, I'm not sure if you did or not. Either way, you make a horrible Sanada-San. A man like him would never keep his head bowed."

"A-ah hi, well then… I congratulate you on being the first girl to ever trick the trickster." He clears his throat since his voice was still as deep as Sanada's. "Niou Masaharu, Rikkai's own Trickster." He offers his hand to me, I take it and he brings it to his lips and gives my knuckles a kiss. "So, what can I do to improve my impersonation of Sanada-Fukubuchou? I rarely pretend to be him, the consequences are usually too great for a large trick. Oh, shit," His aqua eyes look down at me, "Sanada is going to kill me isn't he?"

"Probably," I shrug, "I only told him to hold the punishment off until I can embarrass you. Did I?"

"Yes!" He threw his head back, "I could barely keep from laughing as you said you and Sanada had done the nasty. Oh dear god, what bad mental images, how did you come up with it?"

I shrug, "Sex usually embarrasses people, especially when I decided I'd make you Sanada's first."

"Trust me, I wasn't." He lifted his hands. "Damn, I wish I'd thought of that prank. Truce?" He holds out his hand.

"I highly doubt you'll keep your promise." I tuck my hands into my pockets and smile at him. "Anyways, I did end up going to Sanada's thank you very much." I promptly kick his shin which makes him grunt in response. "His family is nice. Pull something like that again and I'll kick a little higher."

"So no truce?" He drops his hand and limps after me.

"Oh no, I'll wait for you to prank me so I can kick you where it hurts and then tell you I warned you."

"You're cruel." He grins at me.

"Look who's talking." For some reason Niou hasn't turned off to walk home. "Dude, do you live around here?"

"Nah, but I have nothing better to do."

"So you're going to stalk some random girl?"

"You're not some random girl." He states, "You tutor the baby boy and you sit everyday on the hill with Yukimura-Buchou, and, as you know I know, you walk home with Sanada-Fukubuchou."

"Still, we've never met which means I'm some random girl." I glance at him.

"I can tell a lot about you Kokawa-San," He says as he tucks his hands behind his head, "enough to tell me that I'm not worried about stalking you home." I roll my eyes. "You have to be smart to be a tutor, you have to be nice to be friends with Buchou, and you're not annoying or Fukubuchou wouldn't put up with you. All good things. Thus there's only a slim chance you're some weirdo."

"You're the weirdo, stalking me home." I grump, "Actually, I don't want you to know where I live. Go away." I don't need him knowing I'm rich.

He laughs, "No way Ladybug, as a gentleman I need to make sure you get home safely."

"Go away." I tell him solidly, "Unless you want to buy a kitten."

"I'm a dog person." He states not leaving my side.

"What do you want from me?" I ask.

"Nothing." He shrugs, "Especially now that you ruined my amazing plan." I roll my eyes and continue walking. Finally we arrive at my house and I wait until he's out of sight before I go inside and lock the door behind me. What a strange boy, but if he's on the tennis team and a regular and Yukimura tells me how good the boys are under it all than I suppose I can trust him. Still I go to my computer and tell Yukimura about the last two nights.

_Sanada will deal with him I promise._ Was all he said, I wasn't worried about that, I wanted Yukimura's reassurance that I could trust Niou into walking me home. I roll my eyes and go settle in the living room Riot settles next to me. Moon is wandering around with Juice and Orphan trailing after her. Orphan needs a home. I wonder if Sanada would like a kitten. So, since Orphan needs a home before I get attached to her too, I call up Sanada.

"Hello?" He asks.

"Ah, hi Sanada-San." I say.

"Hello Kokawa-San, is something the wrong?"

"No. Oh, I embarrassed Niou, I think he's going to stop pulling pranks on me know." I tell him what happens, Sanada merely listens and doesn't say anything. "Well, anyways, the reason I called is so I can ask you a random question."

"Alright."

"Are you a cat person or a dog person?"

"Neither, I don't like pets." He says surely.

"Oh, drats. I have one little kitten left to find a home and I'm becoming too attached to the Orphan."

"Sorry, I don't like pets. Try Yukimura."

"I did, he already has one of the kittens." I say. "Kirihara-San has one and Niou told me he was a dog person. Know anyone else?"

"Ask tomorrow." Sanada said.

"Yea, I thought Yukimura did already."

"He hasn't said anything about you selling kittens." Sanada said.

"Oh, alright, I'll do that after school. I don't have practice on Friday afternoons it's really exciting."

"I'm sure." Sanada sounded almost bored.

"Ah… well… I'll be going now! Thanks! Bye!"

"Good bye."

Something about Sanada makes me want to talk to him and run away at the same time. Maybe it's because he doesn't talk. Oh well. I scratch Riot who purrs in acceptance before I get to work on my homework.

.-.

A/N: I hope Niou-San wasn't too OOC for any of you reading this story.


	9. Chapter 9

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

That evening just as I'm finishing my supper the door unlocks and someone steps into the house. The heavy footsteps do not belong to my delicate mother and I turn to see my father walk into the room. He towers over me and looks down almost bored at me. "Look at how you've grown." And with that he pulls me into a tight hug. I wrap my arms around him tightly and try not to cry. This is the first time we've seen each other since we moved, he's only called twice to make sure I was ok. "Oh, Amaya, you're so beautiful." He holds me at arm length and looks me over. "Come, tell me everything. Oh I see you made sushi. I love sushi." Something inside me made me make sushi even though I really don't like it.

So, Dad and I settle in the living room, the kittens hide in the corner not really knowing Daddy. Moon races to his side and curls into his lap as we eat. He lets me talk about my life and what's been going on. He seems a little more concerned about the boys in my life. "My little girl is grown up! Oh, she's going to start dating soon!" He coos. You've already missed half my life, I grump to myself. "So, do you like-like any of these boys?"

"I haven't thought about it." I shrug, "I don't really know them all that well. We talk all the time but I've been too busy with other things to think about it."

"Oh, don't grow up too fast while I'm away ok? I promise I'll call more often. And tell your mother to take a break. We don't need anymore money." Since nobody spends it really. "I'm going to miss you while I'm away." He sighs and pulls me to him. Then, just like that, caring Dad is gone and business Dad is back. He's off to pack up his clothes. "Wash these for me." He throws a handful of clothes down the stairs. I sigh and do as he says. I needed to wash some things anyways.

After a while he saunters downstairs in jeans and a teeshirt, unusual for him since he's always in a suit or at least nice slacks and a button up. He flops onto the couch, and turns on the TV. I take this time and go upstairs to my room. I don't like business Dad, if I'm around he'll use me as his secretary. American music playing softly through my room I putter around on Facebook and read the last chunk of my book for the Book Club.

_Ping._

I look up and see Kirihara's talked to me.

_Hey, did you get the history homework?_

With a sigh I go through my papers and find the worksheet we had to do for history. I hate history, it's one of the few classes I'm not near the top of the class. There were a few questions I couldn't get. I tell Kirihara that.

_Damn, those are what I needed help on. Thanks anyways. See ya tomorrow._

And just like that he's gone. Oh well. I leave seven chapters in my book, since I have another week to finish the book, and take out my guitar for my music homework. My fingers pluck awkwardly over the strings. Despite the fact I've had music lessons since I was ten I have yet to find an instrument I can play. Trumpet, cello, violin, flute, piano, guitar, I've tried them all and more. I can only manage simple songs on the piano, and I'm barely any better with the guitar. Still, I play and practice the best I can in music class, I'm pretty sure the teacher is upset by my lack of skill. Of course Kiyomi plays piano and guitar too and that's her strong point, while she's average in most every class we have together she excels in music class. It frustrates me to no end. Oh well, nobody's perfect.

I set my alarm and go to bed, giving up on practicing my skills anymore. Even the music teacher has told me I don't have much abilities. My dreams are filled with music notes and kittens. Suddenly, I go from sitting in my living room with mounds of adorable kittens to sitting on an unfamiliar bench. Something caresses my hair, fingers running through my straight, red locks, my soft spot has always been people touching my hair. The hand trails down my neck and onto my shoulders, gently kneading. I want to know who it is but I can't turn around. The hand trails down my arm, I can feel the warmth of whoever is behind me against my back, their breath is hot and tickles my ear. They take my hand and lift it up over my shoulder where soft lips kiss my palm. The mystery person lets go of my hand and just like that they're gone.

"_Get that bodies rocking from side to side. Thank God the week is done I feel like a zombie gone back to life. Hands up, and suddenly we all got our hands up. No control of my body. Ain't I seen you before? I think I remember those eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes._" Usher wakes me up today I wanted a change from Super Bass. My body groans and I flop out of bed, morning practice, it's far too early to be awake. Half awake I change and get ready for the day. Dad and Mom are sitting at the table when I finally shuffle downstairs. The shock of seeing both my parents leave me glued to the spot.

"Good morning." Mom smiles at me, Dad just glances at me and sips his coffee. They were having some series conversation then. "Morning practice?"

"Yea." I walk by them and pack up some sushi I made for lunch. "I gotta go."

"Not yet." Dad stands and I slink back hoping I did nothing wrong. He pulls me into an incredibly tight hug, "I will miss you Amaya." He murmurs into my ear. So he does know how I feel about him. I bet Mom told him. "I'll call you when I land alright? Have fun at school. Make me proud."

"I will. Bye Dad. Bye Mom." And I leave as quickly as possible. Sanada's not at my step but I see him and Yanagi walking down the road so I move out of sight of my house and wait for the two of them. I give myself just a second to cry before I wipe furiously at my tears as Sanada and Yanagi walk up. "G-good morning." Damn it my voice cracked. They'll know something's wrong.

Yanagi looks at me, at least I think he does, he never seems to open his eyes. "Is something the matter Kokawa-San?"

"No." I look at my feet as we walk, I know my face is bright red, my eyes are probably puffy and bloodshot, and my voice keeps cracking. Clearly something is wrong with me, but I know Sanada won't ask anything and I doubt Yanagi would. Sanada doesn't speak much and doesn't ask for information while Yanagi probably has calculated that if he mentions anything it'll just make things worse. Oh, and did I mention that when I cry I get the worst runny nose? Yea, completely attractive as I snuffle and try not to wipe snot on myself.

"Here." Sanada passes me a tissue. When I give him the Why-the-hell-do-you-carry-tissues-with-you look he explains, "Some of the members on the team have allergies and I'd rather have them not sneeze on me." I nod and take the tissue and begin to wipe my nose. Like I suspected they left me alone and by the time we get to school I'm presentable.

.-.

"We're practicing doubles combinations again!" Buchou announces, "We're going to be pairing two people up and pitting them against Madoka and Chie since they're a good doubles team. From here we can measure your abilities. Mori and Kokawa you're up first." I wonder why we keep getting used, oh right, we're the newbies, they don't know anything about us. And I don't know anything about my own tennis style, Chie asked what style I played and I had no idea. She had sighed and scribbled in a notebook.

Kiyomi and I looked at each other as we walk onto the courts, perfect. We've only played roughly four doubles matches before and we're going against sisters that have played together for who knows how long. "Let's give it our all!" Kiyomi grins. She's awfully perky for it being morning. We slap forearms together and get in position. I take the baseline and she's at the net. We also have the first serve. I toss the ball into the air and watch it before I give a little jump and strike the ball over the net into Chie's awaiting racket. The game picks up instantly. Kiyomi and I work well together I thought, we were aware of each other calling out positions. We were both fast only she used more acrobatic play and I used more power, but we made a good team. Chie and Madoka complimented us even though we lost 2-6.

"With some practice you two could be a good doubles team." Madoka nodded her head surely, her long hair bouncing around her as she did so.

Buchou blows a whistle and let's us go change and prepare for school. I jump in the shower and just let the water run down my body before I dress. Kiyomi stood beside me and straightened her hair in a mirror while I blow dried mine. Her hazel eyes twinkle and we apply light makeup for the day. My blue eyes sparkle at me in the mirror before I sling my bag over my shoulder and walk to school.

.-.

Again in English Kirihara looks ready to punch something. He glares at me, pencil clutched in his hands. He holds out a paper for one of his classes we don't share, there's red marks on it. I take it and look it over, it's for his geography class. My class had the same assignment so I'm familiar with the paper. I point out the errors, simple things that made the raven haired boy snap his pencil in frustration.

"Don't worry." I tell him, "It's alright."

He drops his head and sighs, "Kokawa-San, would you help me with all my homework, for every class? I keep getting red marks and I don't know why."

"Alright, you're coming over Saturday morning right? We go running at 5."

"Yea, I asked Buchou if I could go with him and he said it was fine. I'll bring my stuff." He huffs. "School sucks. I hate school."

"Don't worry." I tell him again.

He stabs his pencil against his desk and looks frustrated. Sensei starts class and I don't have time to calm him down. During lunch I follow him down to the tennis courts and watch him waste his frustrations on a match with Yanagi. Niou and Marui pop up beside me. There's a snap as the redhead pops his gum loudly.

"What's wrong with the baby, puri~?" Niou asks.

"Homework for geography." I explain.

"He sucks at school." The redhead snaps his gum again. We stare at each other for a moment. "I'm Marui Bunta, the genius of Rikkai." Niou snorts at that.

"You've already introduce yourself to me remember? I basically bitched you out for picking on Kirihara." I reply smoothly which made the boy blush as red as his hair. Niou laughs as I go back to watching Yanagi completely destroy Kirihara, this will only frustrate him more. "Hey, Niou-Senpai, those two, the regulars, I haven't met them before."

"Oh! That's Yagyuu Hiroshi, my doubles partner… he's known as the Gentleman." Niou winks at me. "And the other is Marui's partner, Jackal Kuwahara, he's from Brazil." That explains a lot about Jackal, I was just too polite to ask. Yukimura walks over and Niou and Marui glance at him and then to me.

"Red marks?" Yukimura guessed as we watch Kirihara practically throw a fit on the court.

"Yup. He asked me to help with all his work though." I inform Yukimura, "I'd been only helping him with whatever he was working on at the time."

"That's good." We watch as Sanada slaps Kirihara on the back of the head and tell him to run twenty laps to clear his head.

"He's such a pain in the ass." Marui muttered.

"He's frustrated." I reply watching his curled hair bounce as he ran. I know how he feels, I get bad (for me) grades on my history and music homework all the time, I just can't get the hang of either class.

.-.  
>AN: Thanks for the reviews Chillybean, I couldn't figure out how to add in Niou's phrase easily. And on a side note I had forgotten I'd met Marui before so I had to edit the last bit just a touch so it'd make more sense.


	10. Chapter 10

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

Biology we're starting to do interesting things. First off we had our lab partners chosen for the rest of the year. Thankfully Kirihara and I got picked together. A few girls in the classroom glare daggers at me. They're fan girls of Kirihara's, they glare at me every class, I've gotten used to it. Hey, at least I'm getting some attention. For our first project we're to go through our storage drawers. Each pair will have their own station on the lab counters around the room. We'll have everything we need, and that's what we're doing today, going through the drawers. Funny how I've been here so long and still we haven't had a real lab to do, just notes and homework and an occasion example.

Kirihara looked through the two drawers that would be ours as I listed off various pieces of equipment Sensei had on a list for us. "What day is it?" He asked as he showed me two funnels.

"April 12th." I say.

"Ah, ok…. Marui-Senpai's birthday is the 20th, I need to buy something for him… probably a pack of gum." He says absently.

"Two 250mL flasks." I say. "What does Marui-Senpai like?"

"Sweets." He says showing me the two flasks.

"Why don't you bake him a cake?"

"Do you think I can bake?" He glares up at me.

I shrug, "Why don't you and I bake him a cake? I can teach you. Cake is easy to make."

"Yea, sure." He shrugs, "Friday? Your place?"

"Sure. Wait, did that mean I just invited myself to his party? I really need to stop doing that." I grump.

Kirihara laughed, "Don't worry, you'll be with me so it'll be fine. Besides the Senpai's like you anyways."

"Alright, next Friday, my house and I'll teach you how to bake a cake."

"Thanks." He says.

.-.

District Preliminaries are starting the weekend after next. So that week we're going to kick it up with practice. First Kiyomi and I have the night to ourselves. We sit on the hill waiting for the boys to finish their practice, we decide to do our homework so we won't have to worry about it.

"Do you walk home with Sanada-Fukubuchou all the time?" Kiyomi asks as I help her with my math.

"Yea, sometimes Yanagi-Senpai walks with me too." I say.

"I hate how close you are with all these guys."

"Why?" I glance at her.

She shrugs, "You have them wrapped around your finger."

"I don't think so…" I mumble, but I can't help but find some truth in her words.

"So, do you like them? Like… like-like them?" I told her what I told my mom and my dad. She rolls her eyes. "As if. You might not know it but you like them… at least one of them." Her eyes glint at me. I roll my eyes at her just as Yukimura blows his whistle. The boys race to the locker rooms, a few stay behind and pick up balls and put away the nets. The three demons of Rikkai walk up the hill towards us.

"Hi." I greet them, "Guys, this is Mori Kiyomi. Kiyomi-Chan, this is Yukimura Seiichi, Sanada Genichiro, and Yanagi Renji." They all say hello and Yukimura says a quick goodbye before heading home. That left the four of us to walk home in peace.

"What was Akaya upset about today?" Sanada asks.

"I'm 95% sure it was because he got red marks on another test. The other 5% is due to some other cause like someone saying something." Yanagi responds.

"It was homework." I say, "Geography."

Kiyomi grumbles, "I have class with him, that class is such a bitch. Kirihara-San shouldn't feel bad I did really bad on that last homework too. The questions were worded weird."

We fall silent again, Kiyomi kicks awkwardly at the ground, she likes to talk and neither Sanada or Yanagi will offer much conversation. "So what are we going to do tonight?" Kiyomi asks me.

"I'm ordering pizza and I bought a crap ton of junk food the other day." Kiyomi grins, "And I have about a zillion movies we can watch."

"Sweet."

"Jeez," I turn my face to the sky, "is it always this hot?"

"It's only April." Kiyomi said.

"It's too hot." I grump.

"I thought you were getting used to it." Sanada commented.

"Well, I was, but it's so humid today…"

"There's a 90% chance it's going to rain tonight." Yanagi said. We all look up at the cloudless sky. "Yea." Kiyomi sounded oh-so pleased. When we arrived at my house we said our goodbyes and the two walked away together. "Cute house." Kiyomi said as we hopped up the steps, I unlocked the door and gave her a tour. "Holy crap, you are rich." She said as she dropped onto my huge bed.

"I told you I was." I leaned on the wall and looked around my large room.

"Let's get some movies going." Kiyomi leapt off my bed and raced to the living room. "Cute!" She shrieked. I wandered downstairs to see her cuddling with Juice and Orphan.

"Do you want the white one? I need to find her a home and at this point I could care less if I get paid for her. I've named her Orphan because nobody seems to want her."

"Oh I want her!" Kiyomi snuggled with the two. "Orphan's such a cute name for her! Ahh" I thought she's squeeze the life out of the kittens with how close she was holding them but even from a few feet away I could hear them purring like motorboats.

"Take her." I smile, "The other one is named Juice, and their mom is a black cat with a white spot named Moon, and the other white cat is named Riot, careful, Riot's a bitch." We laugh and I put in some chick flicks. Together we get hyper off sugar and cry together over stupid chick movies.

"Ok, you know who I like." Kiyomi said.

"Who?"

"Momoshiro Takeshi from Seigaku." I cock my head at her, she huffs and takes out her phone to show me a picture of a guy with spiky black hair and purple eyes. "He's so attractive."

"He's cute." I admit.

"Mhmm." She tosses her head back. I take a second to order two pizzas between movies and tell Kiyomi about my morning jog with the boys and then my meeting with Kirihara. "That's fine." Kiyomi kicks her feet up in the couch, completely at ease. "We can just stay up all night."

"Haha, no." I laugh, "Maybe tomorrow night if you stay over again. I go running at 5 in the morning, I don't want to be up all night."

"Fine!" Kiyomi sighs pretending to be exasperated.

.-.

Kiyomi has become a sibling I never had. We laugh and joke and with a little pressuring I tell her about my parents. As I tell her about their constantly working and my dad now in a different country her eyes widen. "So you live by yourself?"

"Basically." I shrug, "It's alright, I have the money to buy whatever I need, and it's not like it's all that hard to live alone as long as you have money."

"It's gotta be lonely though."

"Yea, that's the only downfall. I keep myself busy though." I shrug.

"Don't you worry, you and me are gonna be spending a lot of time together cuz we're friends." Kiyomi grins at me and I laugh. "Long as we're not in tennis practice."

"Yea because that's going to take up most of our lives." I reply.


	11. Chapter 11

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

We stay up until midnight before I demand the two of us get to bed. We curl up in my bed since it's so large and fall asleep instantly. Too soon my phone is singing and Kiyomi groans, rolling over and off my bed. She lands with a loud thump and then a loud moan. "Owwww!" I crawl out of bed a little more gracefully and gather my things. Then it's downstairs to the bathroom so I can get ready for the morning. I yank my hair into a high pony tail and make sure the kittens have food and water.

"Ready?" I call up the stairs.

"Makeup!" Kiyomi yells back.

"No! We're going jogging!"

"Ugh!" Kiyomi stomps down the stairs and we slip into our sneakers. Yukimura and Kirihara are waiting outside on the sidewalk. Yukimura is as perky and awake as ever but Kirihara is yawning and rubbing his eyes as we wander up to them. Kirihara hands me his backpack and I set it inside and lock the door.

"Good morning."

"Ugh." We reply.

Yukimura merely giggles, "How late did you two stay up?"

"Midnight." We grump together as we walk down the road, slower than usual. Sanada meets up with us just down the road, miffed at how slow we are, Yanagi jogs down the road curious as to why we were so slow.

"Tired." I moan in response to his question.

"You should have stayed back then." Sanada grumps.

"Shut it." I grump back and hit my hip against his, "We're awake, that in itself is a miracle." I yawn for the umpteenth time and try to pick up my speed. Kiyomi, Kirihara and Yukimura stay back while Sanada and Yanagi jog ahead with me. I try and keep up but I'm tired. "Tarundoru!" Sanada yells back at me.

"Ugh!" I groan back. I try to keep up but eventually I just slow to a light jog. It would be a lie to say this hadn't woken me up but I'm just not awake enough to run. The morning is crisp but I know it's going to get hot. Minutes after I dropped back Sanada jogs back to my side. "You're a hypocrite." I grump at him.

"What?"

"You complain that I'm not walking fast enough and yet you come back to walk with me." I glare up at him. He has no response as he matches his pace with my jog. "Who's buying this morning?" I murmur.

"You are." He replies.

"Right, I knew that. Did you punish Niou?"

"A hundred laps for the prank and then another hundred to make sure he won't pull something like that again."

"Isn't that a little harsh?" I ask.

"No." Sanada says surely.

We walk in silence, suddenly, a burst of energy takes over, I jump up, taking Sanada's black hat off his head and race off. His hat is a little big on my head but I don't care as I race away from Sanada who's almost lazily chasing after me. Yanagi has slowed his pace and I jump in front of him.

"Save me!" I yell at him before diving through the crowds. Sanada's long legs catch up with me as I get stuck between people. He presses the hat down on my head and twists it, ruffling my hair up.

"You're worse than Niou."

"No way." I look up at him and smile, holding onto the brim of my cap. "I'm nice."

"You stole my hat." I shrug and we enter the diner with Yanagi right on our heels. We sit at a larger booth and wait for the remaining three of our group to arrive. Sanada tries to take his hat once but with a quick slap that leaves Yanagi and him speechless he leaves me alone. The waitress returns with two glasses of water and a cup of coffee. Just then Yukimura, Kiyomi, and Kirihara walk in. Kiyomi slides in beside me, pinning be between her and Sanada and Yukimura and Kirihara sit on the other side of the booth with Yanagi.

"When did you guys get here?" Yukimura asks as Kiyomi and Kirihara skim the menus and order their drinks.

"Not long ago." Yanagi replied as I plucked my lemon from my water. Sanada slid his cup over and I plopped it into it. Kiyomi grabs the brim of Sanada's hat and gives it a tug. She's grinning wide at me, I just roll my eyes at her and take a sip of water.

"Ew, lemon." I grumble.

The waitress comes back and we order. Kiyomi sucks down an iced coffee and yawns beside me. "I hate mornings." She mumbles.

"You're not the only one." Kirihara has his head in his hand and his elbow on the table lazily swirling a spoon around in his cup of tea.

"I second… wait.. Third? That." I say. They all look at me and I flush, "Whatever." Yukimura, Kirihara, and Kiyomi laugh at my expense. Our food arrives and I dig in, it wakes me up. Sanada shoves the brim of his hat down and forces my face into my food. "Hey!" I elbow him in the ribs and wipe my face. "Jeez, and you call me mean."

"Why do you have his hat?" Yukimura asked with a smile.

"I stole it." I replied happily. Sanada sighs deeply, miffed I'm not giving into him. Common chatter broke out, what we thought of the team and practice. Tennis of course. We stay long after our meals were eaten, I was comfortable around everyone so I could care less as I relaxed back into the booth.

"Where now?" Kiyomi asks copying my position.

"Well, Kirihara-San has to come over so I can help with homework and crap. And Kiyomi, you're coming over again right?" She nods her head happily. "If you guys want you could just come over too." I shrug my shoulders, "My house is big enough and I have movies and a Wii and stuff."

"Sure." Yukimura smiled, "Did the two kittens get adopted?"

"Yea!" Kiyomi smiled. "I got Orphan, I'm keeping her name by the way." We laugh together.

"Which one is that?" Yukimura asks.

"The white kitten." I say, "Kirihara-San bought the other black kitten. How are they doing?" I ask the two black cat owners.

"Jun is a sweetheart." Yukimura smiles, "She just sits with you and purrs."

"Hiko's alright, he's already managed to get stuck in closets and fall into baskets."

"I told you he was adventurous." I say as I get the check and pay without a second thought. "I'm glad their doing ok… I haven't talked at all with the girl that got the grey kitten. It's like that kitten never existed." I shrug and the waitress comes back with the change. I leave a tip and we all leave the diner and head back to my house.

"Thanks for breakfast Amaya-Chan!" Kiyomi hugs me around the neck and we giggle together down the streets. Kiyomi leans close to me, "Do you like Sanada?"

"What!" I yell jumping away from her. She glares at me and puts her arm around me, pulling me close and re-asks her question, "Do you like Sanada? You're wearing his hat, you were sitting next to him, you give him looks and he gives you looks."

"No we don't." I reply skeptically.

"Yea, you do." She nods her head.

Do we? I don't notice it… I've never thought of Sanada in that way, except when I tricked Niou. Speaking of Niou I find him incredibly attractive so why don't I give him looks and stuff? And what about Kirihara for that matter? He's been over to my house a few times now and he's starting to grow on me despite the fact he's sometimes a jerk. Dear me, this is confusing. I've never like-liked anyone before, I only dated one guy and it was more like friends.

"Oh, this is too cute!" Kiyomi hugs me so tight I almost fall over.

"What is?" I ask as I stumble along.

"You and Sanada-San." She whispers in my ear.

"We're not together." I whisper back.

"Do you want to be?"

"Ah-I-I don't know." I can feel my face heating up.

She smiles at me and we walk along. "We'll have girl talk tonight." She announces and hops ahead of us. I sigh, just what I want, girl time. Kirihara takes Kiyomi's spot.

"What was she talking about?" He asks.

"Nothing, girly things."

"Makeup?"

"Putting up with Men's Shit." I respond and we both smile. He stays at my side as we all walk to my house. I unlock the door and lead everyone into the living room. Kiyomi takes over in a second setting up a video game, "I didn't know you played video games." I smirk at her.

"Technically it's not." She flashes the case, it's one of those dance games.

"I have not had enough to drink to dance to that in front of everyone." I tell her promptly sitting on the couch between Sanada and Kirihara.

"You drink?" Kiyomi asks seriously as she slips a Wiimote on her wrist.

"No." I fold my arms and she grabs me and hauls me up. "No way." I flail so she can't put the Wiimote on my wrist. "Yukimura-Buchou! Play with us please? Kirihara you too! I don't want to be the sole idiot."

"What about me?" Kiyomi asks finally sliding the strap around my wrist.

"You're always an idiot." I tease her.

"That's not nice!" She yells stomping her foot.

Yukimura stands, unsure of what we're playing but willing to try. I have to drag Kirihara to his feet before he'll play. I shove the coffee table back so the four of us can dance. Kiyomi picks an easier song and explains the game to Yukimura.

"I hate you." Kirihara mutters.

"I hate you too." I grump back.

"I don't want to do this."

"I don't want to do this either."

"Why are we doing this?"

"Because." I reply just as the game starts up. Normally I play on my own so I don't need to worry about anybody else in the room playing or watching me. Since there are people in the room I'm incredibly self-conscious. Yukimura and Kiyomi don't seem to care as they dance happily. "Screw it." I grump and dance out forgetting everyone in the room. We play song after song, dancing and shimmying and we end up laughing and giggling, it's fun to see Kirihara and Yukimura try to twirl their hips in a circle. Yanagi was relatively easy to convince into trying the game, Sanada took a little more persuasion, but he got up long enough to dance to one song before he sat back in the corner.

"Brawl!" Kirihara yelled, he'd been looking through my collection of games, Yanagi in his place, dancing rather robotically. "Oh! Can we play? Can we play?"

"Any of you three know how to play?" I ask.

"I'll be willing to learn." Yukimura shrugged his shoulders as Kirihara raced over with the game and four nun chucks. We all sit down, I rearrange the furniture again and our epic battle began! And by epic I mean Kirihara and I beating each other to a pulp while our teammates (Kiyomi on my side and Yukimura on Kirihara's side) tried to figure out the game. Kirihara was good, it made me happy to play against a real person. I offered Yanagi and Sanada a turn. Yanagi said he was still collecting data and Sanada glared at me.

"He's technologically challenged." Kirihara whispered in my ear, I giggle and our battle ensues. "Take Jigglypuff's instant kill!" The pink puffball tried to use her special move on my Fox but I used my reflector and bounced here away.

"Ha! You can't beat Fox! He's too epic!"

"What's this do?" Yukimura's character, Mario, was holding a Bob-Omb and wandered over to where Kirihara and I were fighting. I swore and ran away as fast as I could as the Bob-Omb blinked bright red before exploding sending Yukimura flying off screen. Kirhara and I burst out laughing.

"Smooth Seiichi." Sanada smirked.

"I don't see you playing." Yukimura retorted.

"Smash ball!" Kirihara yelled.

"What's that?" Kiyomi asked.

"Doesn't matter get it!" Everyone instantly starts to race to get the Smash Ball. "Mine!" Fox begins to glow. "Fear the Landmaster!" And just like that there's a giant Landmaster on the screen blowing away Kirihara and Yukimura. Kiyomi and I giggle at the destruction. "Kirihara-San, have you seen the Jigglypuff cheat?"

"The one where she get's super huge?"

"Yes!" "I love that cheat!"

"Me too! It's so funny." We laugh and our match continues when they respawn. We play for some time before Kiyomi gets bored and we plug in a movie.

"Kirhara, go get your homework."

"I don't want to." He grumps.

"Homework." I point a finger at him. "If you don't you'll get red marks and then I'll just stare at you arms folded with the I-told-you-so look." He folds his arms. "You're being a child. Go get it. If you do I'll bake a cake."

"Really?" He perks up.

"On one condition."

"What's that?"

"You have to translate the recipe." Kirihara thinks it over before he grumps and goes to get his stuff.

Yukimura nods his head at me, "You handle the Devil of Rikkai quite well." I'll take that as a compliment. Kirihara plops next to me with his bag and digs out his work. I go upstairs and get my backpack and Kiyomi's and then I head to the kitchen and get a box of instant cake mix. I'm cheap, for now, but I always make homemade frosting. Oh, I should get that recipe too for him.


	12. Chapter 12

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

**NOTICE: I accidentally posted Chapter 11 but in reality if was Chapter 12. This means that Chapter 11 has changed so you should go back and read the new Chapter 11!**

.-.

The movie plays as background noise and entertainment for the Demons of Rikkai while us underclassman do homework. Kirihara works in silence, even when he has a question he merely points at the problem. Kiyomi and I finish our work and then the three of us compare answers. Kirihara did well. Then I look over his English, he got lazy, his grammar is wrong and his writing is miserable.

"What's this say?" I ask.

"The b-…. _The boy bought a rocket and went to moon._"

"You need a '_the_' before the moon." I tell him, "And write clearer, maybe Natsumi-Sensei says your answers are wrong because she can't understand your chicken scrawl." Kirihara rolls his eyes and fixes a few mistakes I point out. Then he picks up the recipes and sets to work translating them. I watch over his shoulder, "No, no. Convert these." I point to the measurements.

"With what?" He asks. I take out my phone, I have a converter on it, then it's back to his work. When he finished I grabbed his hand and pulled him and the recipes into the kitchen. "What?" He asked.

"You're going to help me." I told him, when we're in the kitchen I continue. "You're going to make the cake. Next weekend I'll make one by hand with you." I tell him. "What's the cake recipe say?"

I have Kirihara read the recipe and then do as he says. He gathers the ingredients and I watch him mix and add and pour. When the vanilla cake is in the oven and baking we go back to the living room where Kiyomi is hiding behind a pillow.

"What's wrong with her?" Kirihara asked.

"Clowns!" She shrieks.

"You're afraid of clowns?" Kirihara and I flop onto the couch.

"Yes!" She buries her face into the pillow. "Are they gone?"

I glance up, "No. What the hell is this movie anyways?"

Nobody had an answer so I change it to a chick flick. Kirihara groaned, seeing the cover. Kiyomi cheered. Sanada seemed oblivious and Yukimura curious, Yanagi seemed indifferent. As the movie progresses Sanada more often than not would dip his head.

"Ne, Sanada-San, do you want your hat back? It's really comfortable." I comment idly. "A little big though." The hat slips down my head for the umpteenth time so I spin it around so the brim is pointing backwards.

"It's fine." Sanada sighs just as the heroine did something extremely sexual unintentionally. "Why do you like these movies?"

"They're funny." Kiyomi and I reply together. Kirihara picks out my DS and starts to play with it, Yanagi reads a book I left on the counter. Yukimura watched the movie intently and Sanada seemed bored.

"Ugh, what do guys do when they have sleepovers?" I grumble.

"Play video games, eat junk food, make inappropriate jokes, and get drunk." Kirihara replied. He wasn't in a good mood despite the fact his cake is turning out well. Yukimura rolled his eyes upon the mention of getting drunk. "Not much different than this… only no damn chick movies."

"Ugh, you pick out a movie then." I roll my eyes at him. Kirihara bounds over the coffee table and promptly picks out an action movie. We watch that for a while before I make Kirihara take his cake out of the oven. Then it's back to the movie while the cake cools. "Come flip the cake." I tell Kirihara as he puts in a new movie.

"What?"

"Flip the cake. Come on." I lead him into the kitchen and show him how to turn the cake upside down in the pan so it'll come out. "Think you could do that next weekend?"

"Anything you can do I can do better." He states.

That got the song stuck in my head and I hum my way back into the living room to sit by Sanada for once. The movie was violent and it was kind of disturbing, heads getting ripped off, blood everywhere. Kiyomi clearly isn't into the movie. I continuously roll my eyes with the horribly fake gore.

"Kirihara-San, you picked a horrible movie." I grump.

"Well you're the one who picked the chick flick." Kirihara grumped back.

"This is on the completely opposite side of movies! Why can't we watch a comedy or something?"

"I'm not changing the DVD again."

"Well I'm not watching this movie anymore." I grump.

"Then go pick a movie out."

"Why don't you?"

"No you. You're the one who doesn't like the gore."

"You're the one who didn't like the chick flick."

"Shut up!" Sanada yelled slapping the back of my head.

"Ow! I bit my tongue!" I yelp.

"Feel my pain!" Kirihara growls.

"I'm sorry Kokawa-San."

"Go get a movie since I'm injured." I ignore Sanada's apology.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

The TV turned blue and Yanagi walked to the DVD player with a DVD case in hands. "You were going to spend another 30 minutes fighting." He explains.

"Are you ok?" Sanada asks gently.

"Yea, fine." I look up at him.

"I didn't mean to hit you, I'm just used to the guys fighting constantly."

"Figured." I reply as Yanagi turns the movie on.

.-.

Everyone is alright with the comedy and we don't fight again. After a while I grab Kirihara and we mix the frosting. He complains the whole time because he had to sift the confectioners sugar with a special sifter. I poke him every time and watch to make sure he's adding the ingredients correctly.

"Watch carefully." I say as I start to ice the cake. After a second I let Kirhara try. Kiyomi jumps onto the table and watches Kirihara ice the cake.

"Agh!" Kirihara yells frustrated, the icing comes off the cake as he wiggles the frosting knife back and forth on the cake.

"Don't go back and forth." I grab his hand, "Go one way." The icing stays in place. Kirihara pulls his hand from mine and continues to frost. I get so lost into making sure Kirihara's doing it right when I turn around to start dying the frosting I'm startled to see Sanada, Yanagi, and Yukimura watching us with Kiyomi. "Ah… hello."

Kirihara turns around and jumps too, "Go away!" He glares daggers at them.

"Ignore them." I tell him, "What color?" I lay out all the dyes I had. Kirihara looks them over and picks a blue. "Now this stuff stains." I warn him as I get another bowl and put some white frosting in it. Toothpick in hand I cover the pick with blue dye and stick it into the white frosting before mixing. "Oh, Kirihara-San… we're going to have a problem… I decorate cakes left handed."

"That's a problem?" Kirihara asked.

"Well, for the border it is, the shells are going to be going in the opposite direction for you. So either I need to show you an example and you can go from there, or you learn left handed too."

"Why do you decorate left handed?" Kiyomi asked.

"My mom's left handed and she's the one who taught me." I take out a cake bag and show Kirihara how to set it up. "I can't do it right handed, it's kinda funny." I stuff the bag with blue icing and hand the bag to Kirihara. I show him how to hold it and how to squeeze the frosting out correctly. We watch as he switches from his right to his left hand and back again, trying to find out what worked better. I take the bag and on one of the edges of the cake I show him how to make a shell border. It's fun to watch him, his shells aren't perfect, some are too big and some are too small and some are just squiggles. "Squeeze, release… squeeze, release." I lead his hand through the motion, he was learning left handed. "Try with your right." I twist the cake to a blank edge, it's much easier for him. "You're right handed." I tell him as he finds a rhythm. The more he decorates the better his border gets.

"You're not that bad." Kiyomi says.

"Thanks." Kirihara has his back turned to them but I can see him smiling. He finishes the border and turns to me. "What now?"

"What do you want to do? I can teach you how to make flowers." I shrug.

"Alright." He picks out red and I let him mix up the next color and set up the bag.

"Be careful, don't fill it above this line, it will squish out the back and be a complete mess." I tell him as he fills the bag with the red dye. "Now twist is and squeeze the air out."

"The what?" I take the bag and push all the frosting to the bottom and make sure there's no air before I show Kirihara how to make a flower with my super easy flower tip.

"Why does it say 'no taste red'?" Kiyomi asked.

"Ever used food coloring to get red and no matter how many drops you add you only get pink?" When Kiyomi and Yukimura nod I continue, "The only way to get real red is with professional dyes… some of them have to add stuff to 'em so they'll turn red." I shrug, "I'm not completely sure, Mom could explain it better."

Kirihara decorated the top of the cake with various flowers and turned to me. I mix up a little green and show him how to make a leaf. Then he's off to work making leaves. He learns quite quickly. Before I know it Kirihara is looking through all the various decorating tips I have and starts to experiment. I stick my finger into the leftover white frosting and proceed to lick it off. Vanilla.

"Is it good?" Kiyomi dips her finger into the frosting.

"Of course." I smile. "Kirihara-San did a good job." He smiled at us for a second and goes back to his work. Yukimura takes my wrist and pulls me close.

"Thanks for taking care of Kirihara."

"No problem, Yukimura-Buchou."

"Oh, don't call me Buchou." Yukimura lets go of me and giggles.

"Alright, Yukimura-San." I smile and watch Kirihara figure out the grass tip.

.-.

A/N: I have decorated a few cakes before but I'm no expert. I just reused what I already knew. Also, I start school today/tomorrow. I have another couple chapters ready to be uploaded but my actual writing is going to take a while. Sorry for any upcoming delays. As well, I know where I plan to end this story (there probably will be a sequel) and I'm telling you know this story is a lot of long random stuff, this is her average life.  
>Thanks to all who've added the story to their favsalerts and thanks to all the reviews they mean quite a lot to me :)


	13. Chapter 13

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

A/N: I had made a mistake in the last few chapters. The Chapter 11 I had posted was actually Chapter 12. This means that Chapter 11 has changed and if you haven't read it you should go reread it.

.-.

When the cake is done I take a picture of it before slicing it up. We all have a piece and it's really good. Kirihara is beaming with satisfaction until I tell him we need to clean up. Even I don't like cleaning up, but we get the work done quickly, leaving the frosting tips to soak since I can't get the frosting out of them. We all settle back into the living room, some movie playing, I don't pay attention as I curl up and read.

"Stop reading you bookworm." Kiyomi grumps.

"Have you seen my bookshelf?" I ask her. "About as tall as you are crammed full of books. I read." Yanagi looks up from the book I left out yesterday and Yukimura smiles. "Yukimura-San do you want to go through my collection? Yanagi-Senpai, Sanada-San you can too. Kirihara-San I don't know if you read books or manga but you're welcome too. Kiyomi you don't like reading period so…" She sticks her tongue out at me but she follows me as I lead everyone into my room. I wasn't lying when I said my bookshelf was as tall as Kiyomi.

"Woah." Yukimura and Yanagi instantly start going through the books. There are eight long shelves and the bottom three and a half are devoted to manga, the other half is my journals and sketch books, and the top four shelves are full of books. Even the top of the bookshelf has a pile of books with no home. I organized them based on how much I liked them. "Wow, some of these are in English." Yukimura said.

"They haven't come out with the translated version yet." I shrug, "That's how I've gotten so good at English."

Sanada seems interested as I pluck out a few not-so-girly books for Yukimura and Yanagi to look over. Kirihara's looking over my manga collection and I keep picking out incredibly good books to try and perk Kiyomi's interest. Everyone gets something to read, I get Kiyomi into reading a story about some princess who has it all, figures. Books in hand we all settle down, the movie's just background noise now.

"Mew?" Riot stalks into the room looking around everyone.

"Princess!" I cry jumping to my feet to chase after her as she runs away. She's not fast enough and I catch her and hold her like a child as I carry her back into the living room. She claws into me and I drop her on the couch where she promptly runs away. "What a beast." I grump. "Where's the kittens?" Moon perks her head up from her spot on the window sill. She looks around and meows. I follow her into the guest bathroom where Orphan and Juice are greedily eating. "Kitties!"

I settle back into my seat beside Sanada and set Juice in his lap. They stare at each other for a minute before Juice curls up and Sanada starts to read again. Orphan runs over to Kiyomi and sits between her and Yukimura. Suddenly I can't help myself from leaning on Sanada's shoulder as I read one of my new books, Legacy by Cayla Kluver. He doesn't seem to care as I get comfortable. I wonder, do I really like Sanada? Since Kiyomi's mentioned it all I can think about is how I've been interacting with Sanada (and Kirihara and Niou, even, for that matter.).

.-.

Almost two hours later everyone decides to head home. I give Kirihara one of my books and tell him he's to translate the first two chapters of the story by next weekend. The boys leave and Kiyomi grins wide at me. There's no escaping her wave of questions.

"Do you like Sanada? You stole his hat, you still have it on you know." Kiyomi speaks a mile a minute and I touch the brim of the cap to realize it's still there. Crap. "You practically fell asleep on him. And then what's that make Kirihara, I watched the way you held hands with him while decorating that cake. Girl, you gotta figure out your men and fast." She shakes her head and sticks a Twizzler into her mouth.

"I don't know." I grump. "I should give Sanada his hat back." I take out my phone and call him.

"Hello?" He asks.

"Hi, Sanada-San, it's me. Do you want your hat back?"

"Give it to me in the morning. You're going jogging tomorrow morning right?"

"Right. Ok. I'll see you then. Bye."

"Bye." Sanada hangs up first.

"So?" Kiyomi grins.

"He's letting me keep the hat until tomorrow when we go jogging. Jeez." I flop back into the couch, "I don't know Kiyomi. I don't really know him that well and it's not like he's the talkative type. Besides, I like Kirihara, at least I think I do… and then there's Niou, he's attractive. Ugh." I've gone from never liking anyone to dealing with three guys.

Kiyomi pulls out her phone and starts to text. "You should text them. That's what I do." She scoots over and shows me various guys she's been talking to from other schools. Momoshiro, Shishido, Mizuki, and others. "I talk to them but I never actually need to meet them if I don't want to."

"Yea but I go to school with Sanada, Niou and Kirihara."

She shrugs, "It's worth a try." I roll my eyes and skim through my contacts, Yukimura gave them to me the other day incase of emergency and he's not around. I find one number and send a text out.

Kiyomi and I spend the rest of the night texting, I only text Niou because I don't see him that often, and I don't think Sanada could text while Kirihara's already said he only has a few minutes left on his plan for the rest of the month. Niou is a funny guy actually, he tells me all about the various pranks he's pulled, I can't believe he'd put super glue in Sanada's hat as a joke. We stay up late again before we both collapse asleep.

.-.

"Stupid phone!" Kiyomi yells as my phone goes off to wake us up.

We grumble and flop out of bed. After we change and brush our hair and teeth we head downstairs for our jog. "Mom?" I ask seeing my mom slumped over the table, nursing a cup of coffee.

"Oh, morning. I'm just getting home… I'm going to bed, don't disturb me." She usually gets home just after I go to bed and is gone before I wake up. She lives by coffee and 5-Hour Energy. She then smiles at Kiyomi, "I'm Kokawa Eri, nice to meet you."

"Mori Kiyomi." She replies with a smile, "We won't disturb you Kokawa-Sama." The two of us leave to meet up with Sanada, Yanagi and Yukimura. Kirihara said it was too early to go for a run so he wouldn't join us. "What are we gonna do today?" Kiyomi asks as we walk down the road at an easy pace.

"Stay out of the house." I tell her. "It's the easiest way to not disturb Mom." "Ok." Kiyomi tucks her hands behind her head. "Where are we going to go?"

"I don't know… why don't we go shopping?"

"Shopping!" Kiyomi hugs me tightly, "Yes! Yes! Yes! Let's go to Tokyo and shop!" She bounces. "Please! Please? Please?"

I laugh, "Sure, why not." She squeals and runs up ahead, the faster we get to the diner, the faster we eat breakfast, the faster we get to Tokyo. "I'd invite you guys but I'm sure you don't want to spend all day shopping." With a light wave I run to catch up with Kiyomi.

We reach the diner in no time. Everyone orders their usual and when my water comes Sanada automatically moves his cup towards mine. A routine has started up. I hope Kiyomi will continue these runs with us even after she goes home. Yanagi pays and we head back home. Sanada grabs his hat off my head and says goodbye. Yukimura, Kiyomi and myself walked the way to my house alone. Yukimura said goodbye and Kiyomi and I changed and went to catch a bus to Tokyo.

.-.

Monday morning rolled around too fast. Kiyomi and I had played a lot of tennis matches with her friends from Seigaku. It left my muscles pleasantly sore as I fell asleep that night. Morning tennis practice is a bad idea on a Monday. Sluggishly I get ready and stumble my way downstairs, clearly I did too much this weekend. Sanada smirks when I stumble to his side rubbing my eyes. Still he says nothing as we walk to school. I'm thankful he doesn't talk about it.

"Ne, Sanada-San," I murmur blinking frequently trying to wake myself up, "why doesn't Yanagi-Senpai walk with us to school?" I stumble for about the eighth time Sanada has to grab my shoulder to keep me from falling. "I'm not gonna fall don't worry."

"You almost fell into a trashcan." He states releasing my shoulder.

"Huh?" I turn to see he was right, there had been a trashcan in my way. Something smacks into my back and I trip. I glance back and see it's a mail box. Sanada yanks me to my feet and makes a quick turn, into a little café. I saunter after him. "I don't drink coffee you know." I grumble but he ignores me.

"A small caramel latte macchiato and a small chai." I giggle, a latte is such a girly drink for Sanada to order. The two cups arrive in seconds and Sanada presses one into my hands. "Yanagi doesn't walk with us because he leaves a much earlier than we do, he has business with the student council." Sanada says as he leads me from the café without another word.

Curiously I take a sip of the latte, while I'm a girl I've never had one before. It's good. The caramel is good. I hum my contentment and drink more despite it burning my tongue. Sanada sips his chai occasionally. "Why'd you pick caramel?" I asked.

"Lucky guess." He responds. "How late did you stay up last night?"

"Not late, I was in bed by 10." I shrug, "It's just I did a whole lot with having Kiyomi over, I usually stay in the house like a recluse all weekend."

"Aa."

The latte and the excitement of having someone buy me a latte perked me up and I managed to avoid all mailboxes and trashcans the rest of the way to school. Sanada says a quick goodbye and disappears into the boy's locker room. When I enter the girl's locker room Kichida is standing there, hands on hips, grinning sadistically at us as we change.

"50 laps go!" She yells.

"Yes Buchou!" Everyone scatters like cockroaches when the lights turned on. Kiyomi and Tsukiko find me and we jog together. Lattes in the morning are not a good thing. My stomach twists and turns and I feel ready to puke by the time my laps are done. I curse Sanada.

"30 squats! Now!" Buchou barks.

"Yes Buchou!" We all shout and start to do our squats. She walks around and yells at people who weren't performing at their top abilities. "Kokawa! Deeper! You're knee won't get any better if you don't work on it!" Eesh, now everyone knew about the fact my knee occasionally twinges and makes it hard for me to walk up and down stairs, let alone play tennis.

"She does this to everyone." Tsukiko doesn't seem fazed as Kichida yells at her for talking. "She's really nice away from tennis I swear. Just you wait until we go on our girl's trip. It's bonding time and you see a whole other side of her."

Buchou slaps Tsukiko on the back of the head, "Quit talking Tsukiko."

"Whatever Hisoka."

"That's Buchou to you." She snaps but she's still smiling at Tsukiko.

"Yup, Buchou." When she walks away Tsukiko smiles at Kiyomi and I. "Told you."

.-.

Buchou is a dictator, even worse than Yukimura I think. She doesn't let us stop for any reason. When she blows her whistle we have ten minutes to get ready for the day. Most of us girls want a shower and that's impossible, I jump under the water for a second before racing to change.

"This is some form of torture or cruelty or something!" Kiyomi hissed as we yank on socks over our still damp feet. "I'm going to smell all day long!" Imai tosses a bottle at us and we look it over. Perfume. Kiyomi greedily sprays herself. It smells like lavender. I use a little and Imai puts the bottle back into her locker before heading out. Kiyomi and I leave together. "This is certainly fun." She moaned, "My body is going to be so tired."

"Yea, and it's only Monday."

"Augh!" Kiyomi moans again sauntering into the school.

I second that. It's only Monday.


	14. Chapter 14

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

I make a tough decision and quit all my clubs beside the book club. There's no point. My life is devoted to tennis, like Yukimura said, and I need to focus on that. Besides, I wasn't much help with the other clubs and the archery club never did anything. Still, sitting here at the book club made me wish I had the other clubs to go to. The girls I'd befriended in the clubs asked me all day yesterday why I wasn't there and when I explained my situation they frowned.

We'd just finished our discussion over the last book we read, Hunger Games, I enjoyed it. They said we wouldn't be reading the next book in the series so that was up to us to read. Currently the girls were debating over our next book. I skimmed the list, during the first meeting just after school had started (and just before I arrived) they'd come up with a list of all the books they wanted to read. Currently we'd read one.

"Why don't we read Matched?" I ask piping up. "It continues with that whole controlled society theme from the Hunger Games."

"Sure." The president of the club, Wato Sora, smiles and begins to hand out the book. "Have it read in three weeks." She says sending a purposeful glare at a brash third year girl who didn't finish the book in time, we spoiled the ending for her since she didn't seem like she wanted to finish the book anyways.

"This is a lovey-dovey book." She moaned.

"Ooh, it sounds good!" A girly girl squealed. It did look pretty good and I was into the whole "controlled-society" theme anyways. With that Sora called the meeting to an end. Quick as lightning I gathered my things and raced down to the locker rooms to change and join the tennis team as fast as possible. Sitting in my locker is a small wrapped package. Taking it out I realize it's my uniform. My hands shake as I unwrap the package and proceed to change. It fits perfectly. I look at myself in a small mirror, I'm grinning from ear to ear.

It's surprising to see me smile. Last night Dad called and moaned about how he was so sorry he hadn't called and how busy he was, he was so tired, he was ready to give in. I let him complain for a good hour before I told him it was bed time and went to bed crying. Dad's never around, he doesn't even seem to care about me 80% of the time. I need to tell Mom to stop working so much so I won't be so lonely. It's left me depressed, but seeing myself in the white skirt, yellow shirt and matching jacket I can't stop from smiling.

I spin my racket around and around as I leave the locker rooms. Buchou glances at me, a smirk on her face, "Lookin' good Kokawa! 40 laps to warm up!" Without a thought I start to run off. When I pass the boy's tennis court I wave at them. Yukimura's grinning from ear to ear at me. The second time I run by Niou is right by the gate, "Looking good Ladybug!" He shouts after me. I wave and continue my laps. All thoughts of my parents leave my head as I run, instead I focus on the compliments I've gotten, the looks, how good I feel to be a part of something.

With my laps done Kichida sets me and Kiyomi, also in her new uniform, up as doubles partners. I think she thinks we're good. Kiyomi and I play against Tsukiko and Setsuko, they're both incredibly good despite the fact they don't play doubles well, they focus on themselves while Kiyomi and I help set each other up for killer moves to steal points away. I guess Kiyomi and I are good, still we lose 4-6. I down a bottle of water and poke Kiyomi in the side.

"We're hot." She smirks.

"You can say that again." I smile back.

Buchou blows the whistle, two quick bleats which means everyone in line. It's become automatic, even if it wasn't someone would grab your arm and drag you into place. "Alright." Buchou has a slight smile on her face, "We've got our Doubles 2 team. Mori and Kokawa. Now, the District Tournament starts next Monday, be prepared. We're expected to have an easy win but don't let your guard down. Practice will run late tomorrow and we're also having practice Friday evening. Kokawa, Mori, you're to be practicing together for every practice. That's all! You may go!" Everyone hurries to change, I'm in no hurry though, I change and pull my yellow jacket over my shoulders.

I wait for my boys to leave the locker room. They'd wait for me if they'd already changed. Kirihara leaves first and grins at me. "Kokawa-Chan, glad to see you have your uniform, you're starting to look the part. How about you and I have a tennis match later so I can see your ability? You gotta be pretty good to be on the tennis team, right?" He grins at me, "I mean to make the regulars, but I doubt you'd be able to make the regulars for the boy's team though. Heh."

I roll my eyes, he's trying to belittle me. "Did you do your English homework yet?" Instantly he deflates and stalks off. "Call me if you have a problem!" I tell him.

Niou saunters out of the locker room and drapes his arm over my shoulder. "How about you and I go out to get a cup of coffee or something, puri~." He smiles.

"Long as you're not planning to pull a prank." I glance at him.

"And risk getting my precious boy hurt?" His aqua eyes widen for a second.

"You honestly think I'm going to kick you?"

"Yea." He shrugs, "Nobody except maybe Fukubuchou frightens me. You have me worried though."

"Why are you telling me this?" I ask.

"Conversation sake. So, do you want to go get something to eat right now with me?" He smiles and I return it.

"Sure." Sanada and Yanagi walk out of the locker room. "I'll see you guys later." Niou turns me and leads me off. We walk for a while, his arm draped over my shoulders, until he tugs me into a small restaurant. He asks for a booth in the back and we settle down at our table. "So what brings on this outing?" I ask him.

"I'm pretty sure I've said it before, but you interest me, you're new, like a Christmas present." He smirks. "And since we never get to talk I decided to ask you on this little… outing."

"Alright." I shrug, "What do you want to know?"

He starts asking questions ranging from my favorite color to what my life was like back in Furano. We learn a lot about each other instantly, he makes me laugh and giggle with his stupid answers. When our food arrived Niou instantly took two French fries from my plate and stuck them to his canines so he looked like a walrus. I broke into giggles and he started to ask odd questions, are you ticklish? Do corny jokes or pick up lines make me laugh? Do I think pickles and peanut butter taste good.

"Ok, what about giraffes?" Niou snipes another fry from me.

"What about them?" I ask taking a chicken finger from Niou's plate.

"Do you like them?"

"I've never seen one in person." I tell him.

"Well then you and me are going to the zoo." He promises.

"Alright." I twirl my straw around in my water, he pokes me and I look up at him. He's grinning mischievously.

"How do you feel about pranks, puri~?"

"I am not helping you in any pranks." I roll my eyes, "I can't keep a straight face." He rolls his eyes that time. "When I got you that was different." He shakes his head. "Dude, is your hair soft?" I ask.

"I have a name." He pouts while his fingers subconsciously twirl his rattail. "And yes, my hair is soft, piyo~."

"Well Niou-San," I lean over the table and run my hands through his spiky hair it is soft and it feels nice between my fingers, "I'm surprised, I thought your hair would be caked with gel and stuff."

"Well is your hair naturally that straight?" He shoos my hand.

"Yes." I nod, "Why do you have a rattail?"

"Why do you keep your hair so long?"

We roll our eyes together and start to laugh. I can see we're going to get along well together. This early supper just made me more confused over my guys, I knew I just liked Niou because he was cute but now that I know him I like him a lot more. Damn life.

.-.

Thursday sucked. I failed a music test and a history test. Yamasaki, the regular I beat so long ago, shoved me face first into the wall giving me a bloody nose. Then Kirihara continuously snapped at me all through English and Biology because he was frustrated too. Then Buchou worked us, normal practice didn't even get out until 6:30 and then she kept Setuko, Kiyomi, and myself after until 8 to practice our doubles combination.

My cell phone started to sing "F*** You" by Cee Lo Green to wake me up. I scream into my pillow, my body is sore to the point moving a finger made my toes hurt. Crawling out of bed I get ready for the day and crawl outside. Sanada's smirks at me and I punch his shoulder when I walk to his side.

"That hurt so much." He rolled his eyes.

"I didn't know Sanada-San knew how to use sarcasm." I snap.

"Want a latte?"

"Want me to puke?" I snap again.

Sanada smacks the back of my head. "Stop Kokawa-San." He demands, the authority in his voice was enough for me and I stop moving all together. Without a thought Sanada grabs my elbow and pulls me along. "I know Hisoka-San is strict and you're only snapping at me because you're so tired but deal with it. You're the one who joined the tennis team." He releases my elbow and pulls me into the café we visit whenever I'm too slow in the morning.

"I think that's the most I've ever heard you talk Sanada-San." I tell him as we wait in line. "Let's not get something with so much sugar because I'm going to puke if I drink another latte before practice."

Sanada scans the menu and orders and pays. Seconds later he walks to me pressing a hot cup into my hands before we leave. Sanada always buys something I like, I don't know how he does it but I trust him when he picks out a drink. Today it's an unsweetened tea. I don't like tea usually but this one is pretty good. I drink it in long gulps.

"Don't drink too fast." He warns sipping his chai.

"Sanada-San, are you going to Marui-San's birthday party tomorrow night?"

"Yes." He replies calmly, "Why?"

"Kirihara's bringing me along and I wanted to make sure some other people I know will be there."

"Kokawa-San, all the regulars are going." He sounds almost bored.

"Well… I figures Kirihara and Niou and Jackal would go, they're always hanging out. And I was nervous cuz I don't know Jackal or Yagyuu very well."

"We'll all be there." Sanada grumps as we arrive at school. "Don't complain about your practice." It's not a question but a statement.

"I won't Sanada-San!" I call back to him. "Have fun!"

"Aa."

Kiyomi is waiting for me inside the locker room, leaning on her locker with just her undergarments on. I roll my eyes at her and change as quickly as I can. "You're going out with Marui."

"What?"

"Yea, some chick said so." She shrugs her shoulders, "This blond haired girl."

"Blue eyes? Tall?" I ask, when she nods I groan. "It was probably Yamasaki-San. She's making my life miserable right now."

"So you're not going out with Marui? Good, I was wondering because I've like never seen you with him and you never mention him. I just wanted to make sure."

"Yea, couldn't she have come up with someone better for me to date?" I smirk as we head outside.

"Well, Marui has a lot of fan girls… you probably didn't know that though." She says in response to my blank face.

"50 laps!" Buchou announces and we all jog off.

Tsukiko comes up beside us, she's one of the only regulars that actively tries to talk to us, I bet it because she hated Yamasaki and that other girl. "Are you going out with Marui?"

"No." I roll my eyes.

"Good, Yamasaki said you were. I didn't believe it. Man you must have pissed her off big time."

"Yea she took her regular spot." Kiyomi grins at Tsukiko who rolls her eyes.

"You've made a bad enemy my dear but I'll take care of you."

I shake my head and continue my laps. I don't want to deal with this right now, I'm trying to focus on keeping my pace up so Buchou won't scream at me. Laps done and Buchou instantly sets Kiyomi and myself up with Chie and Madoka. "We only have a few days left to practice!" Buchou keeps yelling at us. I'm pretty sure we're as good as we're going to get. I'm so glad when she blows her whistle and I can hop in the shower.

"Hey, Kokawa-Chan!" Kiyomi asks as we change, "Can we get together this weekend and practice some more?" She leans close to me, "I think it would impress Buchou."

"Well I can't. Tonight I'm baking a cake with Kirihara-San and then tomorrow I'm going to Marui-San's birthday party…. Sunday I guess we can practice."

"Alright." She smiles. "Why are you going to Marui's birthday party?"

"Kirihara's taking me." I shrug. Kiyomi's hazel eyes glint. "He's only taking me because the cake is Marui's birthday present. Oh, did I tell you about my little date Wednesday?" She hops a step and I tell her about my little date with Niou.

"Girl, you're spinning yourself quite a love triangle."

"Shouldn't it be like a love square?" I ask.

"I have no idea, people always say love triangle… just go with it." She waves her hand in a dismissing way as we exit the locker rooms. Kirihara's standing there waiting for us when we leave. He looks neutral, he's not smiling but he's not glaring… he's just staring, it's a little strange for him.

"Hey, Kirihara-Kun." I say, "Ready?"

"Yea." He nods his head, "Oh Fukubuchou said to just go home without him, he and Buchou have some work they need to do." "Oh, alright." I say as we start to walk away. Strangely it feels weird without Sanada walking home with me, his silent presence has become quite comforting to me. Jeez, I'm confused. Kirihara? Sanada? Or Niou? That, my dear friends, is the question.

.-.

A/N: If none of you have ever read the Hunger Games or Matched I suggest you do. Any books I mention in here will usually be books I adore and would recommend in a heartbeat. Also, school has started today (officially) for me so my updates might not be daily like they have been I will try my hardest to keep up with it.


	15. Chapter 15

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

"Ah! Kokawa!" Kirihara yelled from the kitchen. With surprising athleticism I vault over the couch and run straight to the kitchen. Kirihara was in the kitchen baking his cake while I went over his homework in the living room, he said he didn't want me in the kitchen while he was attempting to cook Marui's cake. Stopping dead in my tracks I can't help but burst out laughing. "Stop laughing!" Kirihara yells at me. I can't. Kirihara was trying to mix the frosting when he added another cup of confectioners sugar to the mix he must have turned the mixer on too high and it poofed up into his face. The raven haired boy stood with a glare, face covered in white sugar. Eventually his shoulders droop, "I screwed up."

"No you didn't." I smile at him. "It's happened to me more than once." I admit as I wet a towel down. Kirihara drops his head, ashamed, I'm sure he hates the fact that he did something wrong. Taking his chin in my hand I lift his head up and give him a warm smile. "It's your first time baking Kirihara-Kun, give yourself some slack." I wipe the towel across his cheek and he visibly stiffens.

"I can clean myself up thank you very much." He grumps taking the towel from me and proceeding to clean his face and shirt off. "I'm sorry Kokawa."

"Don't worry about it." I turn the mixer on a medium speed and work the confectioners sugar into my lump of butter and shortening. "Beginners make mistakes, it's a part of life. You just dust yourself off and try again." "Ok." Kirihara wipes off the counter and drops the towel into the sink. "Go away please. I want to do this."

"Alright." I turn off the mixer and step aside. Kirihara's cake was flipped out of the pan and cooling, it looked good. I patted it and felt that it was almost completely cooled. "Good job flipping the cake."

"Thanks." He says halfheartedly before the mixer whirs into life. Happy now I go back into the living room and correct his homework.

.-.

"Kokawa!" Kirihara yells again. And again I vault myself over the couch and run into the kitchen. This time to slip on something and fall backwards onto the floor. I land with a smack and instantly pain shoots through my body. With a groan I roll onto my side and grab my head. "Kokawa! I'm sorry!" Kirihara sits me up, "Are you ok? Do you need anything? Ice. You need ice. Where's a baggie, like a Ziplock baggie?" I point to a drawer and he scrambles to get me ice. While he runs around like a fruit fly around a banana I inspect what I slipped on. Green icing? I lick the substance, yup, icing. When I try to stand Kirihara pushes me back down, into the icing and presses a bag filled with ice to the back of my head. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I filled it too much! And, like you said, it spilled out the back and oh God I didn't mean for you to slip. I feel horrible." He continues to ramble.

I start to laugh, ignoring the pain in my head when I do. Green eyes stare at me startled so I explain. "It's honestly alright Kirihara-Kun. I've had worse injuries, and cooking is just one big experiment. Clearly you've learned a few lessons. Now you need to clean it up. Get the Dawn dish detergent from the counter and wash the floor alright? I gotta go change before this stains." He stares at me as I climb to my feet, careful not to slip again before I go off into the laundry room to douse my clothes with Dawn. I hope these don't stain, I was rather fond of this tank top, oh well, I have more clothes than I know what to do with.

When I shuffle back into the kitchen, ice bag pressed to my head in shorts and a new tank top, Kirihara's cleaned up the kitchen and is back to decorating his cake. He didn't turn when I walked in so I watch him, he twists the cake around so he can get to another spot. He looks so focused, like he does with tennis only in tennis he's usually taunting the other person with that smirk of his, but right now he's totally focused and silent. It's a nice change. Just as I lean on the wall to watch him he turns around to get a new bag of icing. He stares at me before he glares.

"Go away I don't want you seeing it until it's done."

I roll my eyes and head back into the living room. Since I have nothing better to do I work on my music homework for next Tuesday. We have to write a sheet of music, that's a little easier for me than actually playing, I can always set up the notes on an app online and let it play the song. Pouting I scrawl notes down on a piece of paper.

"Kokawa come see!" He sounds cheerful, I smile and walk around the couch. Kirihara grins at me and I go to investigate his cake. He did a good job, his border is red and the shells are much better than his last attempt. He created a yellow tennis ball and filled it with the grass tip and in swirling red writing he wrote "Happy Birthday Marui~".

"It's good." I tell him. I'm impressed, there's a few little mistakes but it's completely expected and even with that it's pretty.

"Thanks." He grins. "Thanks for teaching me Kokawa."

"You're welcome." I put a cover on the cake and smile at him. "Now you clean up and then there's some mistakes on your English homework. It's really pretty Kirihara and I mean it." He rolls his eyes but sets to work cleaning up the mess he made before coming in to fix all his mistakes on his homework.

.-.

In the morning I wake up and dress in a knee high skirt I just bought and get prepared for Marui's birthday party. Kirihara's waiting at my doorstep when I open the door. "Morning." He says.

"You guys make these parties an all day thing don't you?"

He grins. "Yea, but you don't have to stay all day if you don't want to."

I shrug, it depends on how I feel, I'm too indecisive. Kirihara takes the cake and gives me a little bag with red tissue paper and we start to walk. Marui lives a little ways away but it's not bad, especially after all the running I've been doing from tennis. "Are you sure he won't mind?"

"Nope. Some of the girl's from the tennis team are going too. I mean we've been playing together since junior high some of us… and we've had to survive our week of hell."

"What?"

Kirihara grins at me, "That's right you don't know about hell week. Before Nationals, since we always get in, the girl's team and the boy's team go on a week training camp and it is hell. All the bonding." He rolls his eyes, "You'll have fun."

"Sure." I say sarcastically.

"Here it is. Hey, how's your head?" He asks as we head up to a large house.

"It's fine." I touch the bump on the back of my head, it hurts still but it's alright.

"Did you take any medication for it?" He knocks on the door and I stand awkwardly beside him.

"No, I don't take medication. I think it's unnatural, I prefer home remedies."

"And your mother is a nurse." Kirihara glances at me and we smile and the door opens. Two boys about 10 open the door and grin wide before turning and shouting, "AKAYA-KUN IS HERE!" And then they race away.

We step into the entry and take off our shoes. I stay close to Kirihara as we walk through the house. First we make a pit stop to the kitchen. I like looking at people's kitchens, it tells me a lot about the person. This kitchen has a lot of various cooking utensils, pots and pans, and when Kirihara opens the fridge to put his cake inside I see a lot of instant cook meals and yogurt. Interesting.

"C'mon, they'll be in the living room. I'm surprised that Hikaru and Hiroki are here, usually Marui kicks them out." Kirihara says idly as we wander through the house to the back. "Oh, they're twins, Marui's little brothers." I gathered that much.

We enter the living room, Super Smash Bros Brawl is playing on the big TV. The game gets paused and everyone looks at me. "Ah, happy birthday Marui-Senpai."

"Hey, thanks." The redhead smiles before snapping a bubble, "Do you play Kokawa?" Kirihara drags me into the living room where I greet my friends awkwardly. Tsukiko, Chie, and Madoka are sitting on the floor watching Marui and Jackal play. Kirihara grabs two Wiimotes and hands me one. He knows I play video games, we talk about them all the time, plus he's seen me play Brawl before.

"Let's play teams." Kirihara grins, "You and Jackal and me and Kokawa."

"Alright, you two are on!" Marui yells.

Our battle begins, people pick sides in a second as our massive battle ensues.

"99 lives!" Jackal yells, "This will take forever!"

"That's the point." Marui grins as his character, Ike, smashes me off the screen.

.-.

Finally the game comes to an end. Jackal managed to kill me one last time giving them the win. "Only by one life!" Kirihara yelled when Marui gloated. "Birthday time!" Marui's mom, a tall woman with fire red hair walks into the room with a large smile on her face. She notices me and smiled, "Hello, I'm Marui Cho."

"Kokawa Amaya." I smile.

"C'mon everyone, it's birthday time!" She ushers everyone into a large dining room, folding chairs have been set out and I hide myself in the corner with Sanada as Marui's mom carries in a cake, candles lit. Everyone sings happy birthday and he blows the candles out. The cake was delicious, red velvet, yum. Then it's present time. He got things from money to video games to a lot of packages of gum. Marui seems to be enjoying himself.

"Hey, Baby!" Marui grins at Kirihara, "What's this note about something else for my birthday?" Just then Marui's mom walks in with the birthday cake Kirihara made. "Hey, this is pretty cool." Marui looks it over, "Did Kokawa help you?"

"No." Kirihara glared, "I know how to bake."

"You know how to give someone a concussion." I tease him.

"You're the one who came barreling into the kitchen."

"You're the one who didn't take my advice." I shrug.

"He gave you a concussion?" Sanada asks.

I shrug, "It's fine, I don't think it was a concussion either, just a bump on the head."

Yagyuu walked over, "Where did you hit?" Marui cuts the cake as Yagyuu prods the spot on my head where I fell. I haven't had a chance to get to know "the Gentleman" but he seems nice enough. "Keep ice on it, tell me if you feel dizzy alright?" I nod my head and he pushes his glasses up his nose, they glint, and he walks off. Everyone seems to like me, nobody's outright ignored me or told me they hated me, that's always a plus. The twins kept asking if I was with Kirihara, and then when I sat next to Sanada they asked if I was with him, and then when Niou puts his arm around me and tells me we need to go out on another date they're dead set I'm dating him. "Hey," one of the twin's, which I can't tell they both have red-brown hair and large brown eyes, "are you dating Niou?"

"No." I tell them as I help clean up the plates and cups left over, I can't help it.

"You don't need to help dear." Cho tells me.

"It's fine." I tell her with a smile, I just needed a break from the boys fighting and teasing yet the twins continue to help me.

"Are you dating Sanada?"

"No."

"What about Kirihara?" They pry deeper and deeper.

"No."

"Are you sure? I mean you arrived with Kirihara… and Sanada doesn't talk to anyone but you and you went out on a date with Niou so you have to be dating one of them. Oh are you in an open relationship?" I can't tell which is talking half the time, they finish each others thoughts so fast it turns into one fluent sentence."

"No. I'm not."

"Weird. You flirt weird. You flirt with three guys in front of each other, what message are you giving the other guys?" I never thought about that. Wait I'm flirting?

"No. It doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters. Yea, you obviously like them." Ok, this is getting a little too much for me. I don't need to explain myself to 10 year olds.

"No, I don't." I need to get them off my back quick. Bingo! "I don't like men. I like women."

Their jaws drop. "Ew!" And they promptly run away. I roll my eyes and stuff a stack of plates into the garbage that got them to leave me be. When I walk back into the living room the twins are glaring at me from the corner. Purposefully I sit by Tsukiko which makes the twins go, "EW!" really loudly drawing all attention to them.

"What, brats?" Marui asks.

They glare at me and everyone looks to me. I smile sweetly and when they look way I stick my tongue out at the twins. "Oh, real mature!" They say.

"I'm much more mature than you guys are. I don't discriminate against sexual orientation." I wink and smile up at Tsukiko causing the twins to fake-gag.

"What is going on?" Marui demands.

"Her!" The twins point at me. "She's gross."

"Mature." I tell them.

"Ew, ew, ew."

"Then leave!" Marui yells at them.

"Gladly!" The two twins jump to their feet and storm off.

"Jeez, what was that about?" Marui asks me.

"They wouldn't stop pestering me about my love life so I told them I was a lesbian, they freaked out." I shrug and when I got a bunch of stares I explain, "I'm not a lesbian I swear, I said it to make them leave me alone." With that I climb into the loveseat beside Sanada and Yukimura, three people in a two person chair is always fun. Marui laughs, Kirihara, Niou and Jackal join in. "You love making people feel uncomfortable." Niou tells me causing me to grin.

.-.

A/N: If you saw me and my friends you'd think we were lesbians because of how we act and what we say. Also, I'm devoting my weekend to writing in this story, I haven't written anything new since school started a few days ago... Sorry about that but I still have a few more chapters that are already written (yay) Byes!


	16. Chapter 16

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

I stay until supper time, which surprised me, I wasn't expecting I'd get along so well with the boys. We were sitting there watching a movie when my phone started to ring. Digging the infernal device from my pocket I excuse myself and head to the bathroom. Dad? Why's he calling me?

"Hello?"

"Hey." He sounds tired.

"Hi Dad, what's up?" I sneak into the bathroom.

"I just called to see what you're up to." Lie.

"I'm at a friend's birthday party." I smile and look myself over in the mirror. My mascara is sticky and it feels weird.

"Oh, I won't keep you long then. I have some news. The manager of this branch, he's got a son about you're age," Oh dear. "and when I come back," which will be? "the boy will be living with us, he's currently studying abroad in Japan, and his dad would much prefer the boy living with someone he trusts." So we're going to have a stranger living with us. "And maybe you and he could become good friends." Don't tell me he's trying to set me up. "Anyways, go have fun at your party." How can I go have fun when you tell me some stranger is going to live with me that you want to set me up with? I take a second to cry and clean myself up before I head back. Why does Dad think he can do this? If he tries to set me up with this guy I won't stand it, I'll move out. I'll find some where else to live.

.-.

I decide it's time for me to leave when Niou starts whispering about bring out the alcohol since Marui's parents and brothers went to bed. It's pitch black when I head home it's slightly disturbing as I walk alone, I was tempted to ask Sanada if he would walk me home but the guys were spending the night so it'd be an inconvenience to ask him. Besides, I don't want to be a bother. So I walk alone, listening to my sneakers against the pavement. The wind rustles through my hair and I can't help but think how it's getting hotter during the day and I'm getting used to it.

A rustle that doesn't match with the wind sends shudders up my spine. It's late, people are probably walking home like I am. Right? Then there's footsteps matching mine only a millisecond off. My heart hammers in my chest. I'm so superstitious, I always fear that there's someone's going to pop out of a dark corner and murder me. And right now in the dark my senses are on high.

My pace picks up and so does the person behind me. Dear God, I don't want to die, I'm too young to die! Please don't kill me. I have so much in life I want to do! My first kiss, my first boyfriend, graduate high school, get married! There's so much more in life I don't want to die young. I ramble to myself, heart hammering feet scurrying, until I reach my house. I run up the steps and at the last second I look to see who was following me. I see nothing. After I close and lock the door I peek out the little window and watch for any movement what-so-ever. Nothing. There was nothing. But I swear I heard someone. I know I did.

Nerves still rattling I take off my shoes and head into the living room. Sanada told me to call him once I got home, since he didn't walk with me. I've got the number on speed dial.

"You made it home safely." Sanada answers.

"Yea…" I say slowly.

"What happened?" He doesn't miss a beat.

"I thought someone was following me home but when I got home there was nobody there." I shrug, "Probably just imagined something."

"Aa."

"Niou my turn!" Kirihara shouts in the background.

"No! I'm not done drinking!" Niou yells back.

"You let them drink?" I murmur.

"Aa." He says.

"I'll talk to you later." I have a lot to think about.

"Aa. Bye."

"Bye." I hang up and get to work cleaning the house. When I get antsy or paranoid I clean, I meant to clean yesterday but I got sidetracked with Kirihara being over. The smell of cleaner stings my nose as I disinfect the counters, my legs hurt as I sweep and vacuum every room, but it calms me, it keeps me busy. It's incredibly late before I decide the house is clean enough to head to bed.

.-.

When I wake up, thanks to Lady Gaga's "Born This Way", I head downstairs to see Mom on her hands and knees scrubbing the floors. "Uh, morning?" I ask her curious.

"Morning Dear." She sits back, her forehead is sweaty, she's been at this for a while, "The house was dirty when I came home so I decided I'm going to clean house today." Ouch. That stabbed right into my chest.

"I'm gonna go take a shower." I tell her just so I can leave the room. I cry through my entire shower, I'm such a cry baby, but I'm hurt. I know Mom works at the hospital and she's use to sterilized areas but I'd just cleaned the house last night. The house wasn't dirty, not by my standards, I try and sweep at least every day, I wash the floors every other week, and I clean off the counters multiple times a day. When I step out of my scalding shower and head to my room I can already smell the incredible burn of sterilizer, I need to get out of the house, I hate the smell of too clean places, I hate hospitals, I feel like I'm going to be sick or that I'm some dirty germ messing up the too-white floors.

While I change I call up Kiyomi and ask if she wants to go play, instantly she agrees, I need to talk to her anyways. So I trudge downstairs to find that Mom had moved on to my kitchen and was cleaning every dish by hand it seemed. Great, now she's going to move everything around and I'm going to spend weeks trying to find whatever I look for. "I'm going out to play tennis with Kiyomi."

"But you need to help me clean." She tells me.

"Mom, I have a tournament tomorrow, I need to practice." I whine not wanting to clean or to tell her I already did last night.

We stare at each other, I plead with my eyes, before she sighs, "Fine, I suppose you can go." I thank her and race out of the house, the stupid smell of anti-bacterial follows me all the way to the tennis courts. Kiyomi's waiting beside two guys in Seigaku colors. Crap, no! I needed to talk to her. Maybe I can go to her house and talk to her there, I haven't been to her house yet either.

"Hi!" Kiyomi waves.

"Hi Kiyomi! Hello Momo-Chan, Kaido-San." I nod my head to the two black haired boys. They greet me and we stretch and start to practice. Momo and Kaido had a good combination but they fight a lot, it's actually quite funny. Kiyomi and I have a good combination too, in just a few days our friendship has shone through with our doubles play. We set up shots for each other and we're both pretty quick thinkers. I like working with Kiyomi, we've gotten to the point where we don't need calls we just move.

"Hey, why don't you guys try the Australian Formation?" Momo prompts.

"The what?" We ask.

Momo and Kaido show us the Australian Formation and a little about it, they themselves haven't perfected it because they don't work well enough together or often enough to. Kiyomi and I try it, she reaches her empty hand behind her back, one finger for right, two for left. We stand right at the center line, off-centered just a bit. One finger. I serve and we wait just a second before we simultaneously moved in opposite directions. It works and Momo's return is easily returned back giving us another point. We do it again. Two. Left. I serve and run right while Kiyomi runs left. Kaido smirks and drives the ball right up the center line behind both Kiyomi and myself.

"That is the flaw of the formation." Momo says.

Again we use it. And again. We can't get over that shot down the center line. I can't change my position fast enough. It's frustrating but as long as our opponents don't know that, which I highly doubt, we'll be safe. We can't perfect the move, who's crazy enough to be able to perfect a move in one afternoon of practicing? So the four of us settle on a bench sipping Ponta watching some young kids play tennis.

"Hey, Kiyomi, how 'bout you and I get together?" I look at her and smile, "I have so much to tell you."

"Sure! Why don't we go to my house? You haven't been over yet." She shrugs and I grin, I can get people to do what I want them to without them knowing it. I'm just that good at manipulating people.

"That sounds good." I smile honestly, we say goodbye to the boys and walk a ways in the opposite direction of my house. We arrive ten minutes later in front of an apartment complex, she runs up five stories in a second flat, no wonder she's got so much stamina. I jog as fast as I can after her and it gets my heart pumping.

"Welcome to my house." Kiyomi unlocks the door and let's me inside. I wouldn't say Kiyomi was poor, she was middle class. Each floor on the complex was separated into four apartments. "Our apartment is one of the bigger ones." She shrugs. It appears like the apartments go from the largest to the smallest. Kiyomi's has two bedrooms, a bath and a half, and the majority of the apartment was the living room/dining room/kitchen combination, it was just one long room separated only by carpet versus tile. It's cute.

"You're an only child too?" I ask as we walk into her bedroom.

"I have an older brother, he's in college." She flops onto her bed and turns on the TV. "He's not around much." Like my Dad. "So what's up?"

I tell her everything. My dad, the stranger, the stalker, more confusion with my boys. I spill my guts. She waits for me to finish, she sighed and shook her head, "Sorry about your mom… and your dad… and the stalker… everything. I'd just keep my head high and get a can of pepper spray." She winks and I laugh.

We watch chick flicks and talk about our troubles, we keep it light hearted and I'm feeling good about myself when I walk home. It's before dusk, Mom would be upset if I stayed out too late on a school night. I walk rather happily down the road. I'm almost home before I hear the footsteps behind me. At first I brush it off, there's plenty of people walking but whenever I turn, even taking backstreets, the footsteps follow me. An icy feeling rushes up my spine and I hurry to get home, I keep my hands in my pockets, one around my keys and the other around my cell phone. If it is a stalker I won't go down without a fight (or probably peeing myself).

When I get to my house I scurry inside and lock the door. Mom stares at me when I wander by, "What's up with you? You weren't smoking pot or something were you?"

"No of course not." I grump. "I hung out with Kiyomi today." I shrug and saunter by her, the house smells too clean, the least she could to is use PineSol or something and make it smell nice. "I'm going to my room, I have a tournament tomorrow."

"Good luck. Oh, I'm also taking every Sunday off. I'm hoping we can make it a habit to go out for at least lunch on those days."

"Yup." I reply, I doubt that'll happen, not because I won't be willing but she has issues with schedule, she never keeps a routine. Besides I'm busy on the weekends too, I've gotten so used to having someone over or doing something on the weekends it'll be hard to come back home for a lunch with my mom. I'll try it for as long as she's willing.

When I open my room I freeze. Mom cleaned my room. She cleaned my room. She cleaned _my_ room! She rearranged everything! The room smelled too clean and she moved my books around, organizing them by author's last name. No. My room was mine. I could do whatever I wanted with my room, unlike the living room which had to be under Mom's orders.

"You're room had no feng shui." Mom appears behind me, "And you're books were completely out of order."

"Thanks Mom." I hiss.

"You're welcome." She struts away, heels clicking, completely unaware of my hatred and sarcasm. I close my door and set to work on the first thing, changing the smell of my room. Grabbing a random bottle of perfume from my now completely neat and organized desk I spray my room over and over with the perfume. The flowers mix in with the antibacterial and I open my window and turn on my fan. Next I start to work on my books, she's moved everything around. I only keep my manga in order and that's by the name of the manga, not the author. This will take all night! And I don't have all night! Why Mom? This is why I hate you and wish you'd work 100% of the time like Dad so I could have the house to myself.

I fall into my bed, in it's new position since I'm too tired to move it, and scream into my pillow before I begin to pound my fists against the bed. Sure having your room completely changed is a small thing in the long run but again, like Mom saying the house was dirty when I'd just cleaned it, but it hurts. My room is mine nobody else's.

.-.

A/N: Kokawa is a little bit of a cry baby I know but she has family issues (clearly). And, oh my, is that a plot I see? Is someone stalking our little heroine?


	17. Chapter 17

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

"_Today I don't feel like doing anything!_" I slap the phone before it can continue anymore. Today I don't feel like doing anything but no I have a tennis tournament starting today. I crawl out of bed and am temporarily lost, where am I? Right, my room, my mom changed it on me last night. I punch my pillow and promptly leave my room. My room isn't my concern right now, focus on the match. I change and head off to school Mom was sitting at the counter but I walk by her, I'll buy a lunch at school I don't want to talk to her. Sanada's not there when I close the door behind me, good, I'm in no mood for company even if he doesn't talk. I'd probably just snap at him and spill my problems, I don't need that. Focus, focus, focus.

"Kokawa-San!" A voice yells. I know that deep voice, suddenly I'm running. "Kokawa-San!" Please Sanada don't follow me, I don't want to tell you everything that's wrong, if you ask I'll tell everything. Please. You'll think I'm weak, you're such a strong person. His large hand wraps around my wrist and I'm yanked back the sudden change in movement makes me topple over. Sanada looks down at me, hand wrapped surely around my wrist.

"Sanada go away! Please!" I try and pry my wrist from his grasp. Keep your mouth shut Amaya, don't tell him anything. Instead he yanks me to my feet and pulls me along. I claw at his hand and even try to bite him.

"Stop." He says with a glare from his dark eyes. I freeze and have to fight not to burst into tears. Sanada wouldn't care about my stupid family issues. Without another word I let him lead me to school. People stare at us when we arrive, crap, more fan girls and rumors, just what I need. Ugh! He leads me to the locker rooms and glares down at me. "Don't ever run away from me again. You do as I say."

"I'm not your slave." I snap at him.

His grip tightens on my wrist and I lower my head instantly. Why can't things just go right today? "You're not my slave but I expect you to respect your senpai and trust your friend." I glance up at him, little does he know I ran because I trust him so much, I'd tell him everything in a second. "Tarundoru. Focus on the matches we have today." He's right, of course he's right. We get out half a day so we can have the first set of matches, of course it means our classes are going to be incredibly tough when we get back, I'm already prepared for a mound of homework. Sanada squeezes my wrist gently and let's go and just like that he's gone.

I take a second to collect myself before going to change. I run my laps alone so I can concentrate, I even stretched alone. Kiyomi pressed her elbow into my back when I ignored her for the umpteenth time. "Dude, you're my doubles partner stop ignoring me."

"Sorry, I have a lot on my mind and I don't want to bother you." I grump.

"Then get over it." She says. "We have our first big match today and I can't have you spacing out and ignoring me." I sigh and nod my head, she's right. She's always right too. I push out all my thoughts as we start up a match with Chie and Madoka, we keep our Australian Formation a secret, it's going to be our surprise.

.-.

Lunch rolls around, Kirihara is running around me, he's incredibly excited for the matches later. I let his good mood seep into me I focus on school and tennis and push out all my problems. They keep creeping into my head, making me depressed.

"Aren't you excited?" Kirihara asks as we sit on the hill to eat our lunches.

"A little." I shrug, I'm incredibly nervous, I feel like I'm going to puke. The reason I never joined a sports team was because I fear crowds and being the center of attention.

Kiyomi races over and sits in front of us. "I'm so excited! I feel like I'm gonna puke! Oh my God! Amaya we're the first game too! Oh my God!" She spews out about a thousand words a second I just focus on eating so I won't puke.

Yukimura walks over and smiles down at us, "Kokawa-Chan, let's take a walk." Nobody tells Buchou no so I stand and we walk around the school. "I know you're nervous and you have a lot on your mind, Sanada said you were acting strange." Traitor. "I just want to tell you that it's ok… We all go through personal things it's how we deal with it that makes us good athletes. Once you get on the court you'll forget about it because you're like Sanada," ok? "you're not going to let your mind wander from the game, especially with Kiyomi on the line too. You'll be fine don't worry. Just remember I'm always here for you ok?"

"I know." I nod my head.

"Ew, look at her." Someone murmurs in the crowd, "She's such a slut." I glance around, who? Me? Yea, I'm a slut for talking to one of my best guy friends. Yukimura sighs and leads me back to the hill the whispering follows us. Now I feel like a horrible person, I'm not a slut.

"Don't let them bother you." Yukimura squeezes my shoulder to reassure me. Yamasaki is going to ruin my life or at least try to.

.-.

Kiyomi and I walk side by side to the tennis courts. "Why are they holding it on a Monday?" I mutter, I am glad it wasn't over the weekend, that would have sucked.

"It's just the first round." Tsukiko saunters up beside us, "The rest of the matches will be this weekend, they couldn't fit them all in. Sucks we miss class though, teachers hate it when we skip class for sports." She tucks her hands behind her head and sighs.

"So are you playing or is Imai-Chan?" Kiyomi asks.

"Huh?" Her brown eyes glance down at us.

"We're Doubles 2. Hayashi sisters are Doubles 1. Buchou and Fukubuchou are Singles 1 and 2... That leaves either you or Imai for Singles 3." Kiyomi deduces.

"I don't know, usually we don't know who plays singles until just before." She shrugs and drops her hands. "Imai is just as good as I am, she did make the team at the end of last year."

We nod our heads and continue walking. The guys are walking just ahead of us, they have their first match today too. They all seem so calm and collected and powerful. Hisoka, Setsuko and the Hayashi twins are calm too, backs straight walking like their going into some huge business meeting. Imai saunters up beside up too, the four of us are either completely relaxed or, in my case, trying not to puke from nerves. I do feel incredibly good in my uniform, we're all in them and it's just a sea of yellow moving along.

"Who are we playing?" Kiyomi seems much more at ease than I do.

"Itoguruma. They're not good don't worry."

"Yea." Imai nods her head, the spikes bouncing around her face, "And they wear this ugly ass pink uniforms, you think our uniforms are obnoxious wait till you see theirs."

"I like pink though." Kiyomi said.

"_Noooo_." Tsukiko shook her head, her pony tail smacked me in the face and she laughs. "Sorry Kokawa. But Mori, you will not like these…. Hot pink with white and purple details, and the skirts are these ultra mini skirts. It's just a big fat mess."

Kiyomi scrunched up her nose, it didn't sound that pretty to me either. Our uniforms have actually grown on me, the yellow doesn't seem as bright anymore, and I've come to accept that I am, in fact, a bumblebee. We walk in silence, just the four of us, my nerves don't settle, I have to stuff my hands in my pockets to keep them from shaking.

Today should be good right? I mean there's a nice breeze so it won't be killer hot today. It's a match during school which means there shouldn't be a lot of fans right? My nerves shouldn't get the better of me. I should be fine. I will be fine. I have to be fine. Fine. Fine. Fine.

.-.

Kiyomi and I find a quiet place to warm up, we've just submitted our line up and we have five minutes to prepare. My body is shaking and I feel ready to puke. Did everyone feel this way on their first match? I doubt it. Focus. I need to focus and keep myself calm. _Pok, pok, pok._ Find a rhythm. _Pok, pok, pok._

"Hey, let's head back." Kiyomi grabs the ball we've been passing back and forth. "Are you as nervous as I am?" I nod, if I open my mouth I fear I'll puke. "I can barely move I'm so nervous… we'll be fine right? We're good players aren't we?"

"You're the one who's always so sure of our ability." I murmur as we head back.

"Right." She smiles wide, "We'll be fine. Let's go kick some butt!" She holds her hand up and we high five before heading back to the courts. Imai was right, their uniforms make me want to kill myself. Hot pink ultra mini skirts with lilac colored shorts under them, white tank tops with lilac colored stripes on their shoulders and their school name in hot pink across the back. Ew. We all line up, Rikkai on one side and Itoguruma on the other and bow under the order of the ref.

"Doubles 2, best of one set match. Kokawa-Mori pair versus Ochi-Koga pair." The two girls are both stick thin, one has light green hair and the other has light blue hair. They grin at us and call "Rough" as Kiyomi twists her racket to decide who serves first. It lands smooth and we get first serve. "Kokawa to serve." I take my place at the baseline, we're not going to use our Australian Formation quite yet. It's too early to give away our surprise. My hand is shaking as I bounce the ball a few times, this is it… this is really it. I'm playing my first official match of any sport ever. There's just my team and the other team here, nobody else is watching. Still nerves are causing my body to forget how I'm supposed to move. My heart feels heavy as I toss the ball into the air.

"_Slut."_

When I hit the ball it flies straight into the net. "Fault." Kiyomi tells me not to worry and I serve again. "Double fault." My body is shaking as I bounce the ball a few times. I'm losing my head. Focus. Focus. I can do it. I toss the ball into the air and focus on it. This time when I hit the ball it flies over the net and the blue haired girl, Koga, returns it. Kiyomi and I are both nervous and we're playing is off and Koga and Ochi win the first game.

"Focus." Kiyomi slaps my face gently. "We can win this."

"Right." I nod my head.

"_You're a slut."_ A voices start to talk in my head, everything bad anyone ever said to me starts swirling in my brain. No get out focus.

_Pok!_ A yellow streak whips by me. Crap! Kiyomi glares at me and Ochi prepares her next serve. Kiyomi's turn to return the ball. She's not having as much difficulty as I am, she's used to being the center of attention. I'm not.

Focus damn it!

We lose the next game. I'm completely out of it, the other team is cheering so loud and I can't focus on it. I sit on the bench and hold my head in my hands. Kiyomi sits next to me, silently drinking her water.

"Kokawa!" My head snaps up and I look around to see Kirihara standing there, his hand waving high above his head. "You can do it! I believe in you!"

"How corny." Ochi scoffs.

It might be corny but it's incredibly cute. Kirihara grins like an idiot at me before giving another huge wave and running off to his match. Kirihara's right, he can believe in me. I can do this. I've practiced for this I can't worry about anything else but this right now. "Let's go." I say standing up with purpose.

"Leave it to that spastic boy to get you hyped up." Kiyomi teases as we walk onto the courts. I glare at the two girls from the net. They're going down. They're going down. We'll take them down. "Here I go!" Kiyomi says just as she serves. The ball zips by me and the green haired girl, Ochi, returns it straight at my face. I use a drop shot that Kiyomi taught me and watch as Koga hit the ball into a lob. I jump back and watch as Kiyomi races forward and uses a smash to get our first point. We pat wrists together.

She serves again, Koga aims for the center line. I jump for it and pass it over the net straight for Ochi's head. She steps back and can barely get her racket up in time, the ball falls dead at her feet. Second point.

"You girls have a long way to go before you're at our level." Ochi teases.

"You're still down two games." Koga adds.

I'm not going to let them taunt me. We will win. Without talking to Kiyomi I get to place and have trust in her shot. The ball races by me. Kiyomi and I move completely in sync, it feels a lot like a dance, we fill the voids in the courts without talking to one another. Koga and Ochi are strong, they're mean. At first they were just using my lack of concentration, now that we're serious they're using smashes and body shots. It's difficult to hit the shots that are aimed directly at you yet we manage to take the next game.

It's Koga's serve. Her serves are incredibly powerful, I can feel it shaking up my arm as I return it. A long rally picks up again between us. Back and forth, back and forth. Kiyomi and I move around each other. Koga and Ochi seemed to stay on either side of the white line rarely did they go over it.

"30-15." The ref calls when Kiyomi finally hit the ball to the deep corner.

"Hey, did you notice what I noticed?" I ask her.

"The white line?" When I nod she smiles. "Let's see."

We wait and Koga serves. Kiyomi returns the ball straight down the middle. The two race to the ball and end up stopping short because they're going to run into each other. They instantly begin to fight, Kiyomi and I grin at each other. The next game is ours. Now it's tied 2-2. My serve. "Kiyomi, let's finish this." I smile at her.

"Mhm!" She nods her head. "I'm glad you're you again."

"Let's just get this over with." I reply, my stomach is getting twisty again, the voices are talking in my head but I find the voices of my friends to cheer me on. Kirihara believes in me. We smack forearms together and I head to the baseline. We stand in the Australian Formation and there's a collection of gasps from both sides. Let's hope these two girls don't know the flaw to this formation. I toss a ball high into the air. Left. I hit and run right, Koga is confused and the ball comes right back towards me which I return straight to the corner. Let's get the ball rolling.

.-.


	18. Chapter 18

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

A/N: I had the biggest scare of my life last night... my laptop had apparently run out of battery while I was out of the house and wouldn't turn on for nothing. I panicked because all my stories are on my laptop including what I haven't uploaded in this story... but my Dad fixed it and it's all good... and I only have a few more pages before we're completely caught up so... don't be surprised if my updates aren't daily like they have been.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

The sun beats hot on my back. The score is 3-5. We're almost there. My knee is on fire from the match. Kiyomi isn't fairing so well either, guess stamina is both our issues. These two aren't good enough to draw the game out. I wonder if they purposely threw the first game. My breath is hot as I toss a ball high into the air. The sun burns into my eyes as I hit. Kiyomi runs right and I run left. Koga and Ochi aren't breathing as hard as us but they're certainly sweating a lot. Just one more game! One more game! "_You're not good enough_." Mom stands before me, arms folded. I trip, missing the ball. I serve again, the ball goes straight through my Mom as I race to the left. "_You're not good enough._ _You'll never be good enough, you'll always be mediocre. You'll never be worthy to be my daughter._" I smash a ball straight through her face and she vanishes into thin air. Glad that's over. Mom can deal with who I become, I'll be my own person with my own standards.

I bounce a ball a few times and toss it into the air. Dad appears. "_What a shame it is to have a daughter that's going to be a nobody._" I will be a somebody! I smash the ball and Kiyomi and I move together. Dad doesn't leave me alone. He pesters me about how he's not around because he's ashamed of me. "_You're miserable._" Focus on the game. They're not real, don't listen.

"Slut!" Someone shouts. I can't tell if it's in my mind or real, I stumble missing our chance for the game point.

"Deuce!" The ref calls.

"You ok?" Kiyomi appears at my side.

"Yea, my mind is just not concentrating."

"We need two points." She says. "Then we can talk. Two points." She holds up two fingers and then smiles. "Get a service ace. I know you have it in you."

"I do. I know it." I tell her and myself. Dad floats after me telling me I don't have it in me. Shut up Dad. I toss the ball into the air and hit the ball incredibly close to the center line. The two girls, since they're not used to doubles can't catch it, how have they been doing this well? Isn't there some saying the whole is better than the parts or something? Guess they're just that skilled.

"Advantage Kokawa-Mori."

I toss the ball into the air and hit the same spot. The ball twirls in the spot for a second before bouncing, the delay got us the last point. We won the first match! I am good enough, Dad! Kiyomi hugs me so hard we fall over. "Hey, we have to thank them." I tell her and we stand up and shake hands with the two, "Good game." I can hear how frustrated they are. We won fair and square though.

Kiyomi and I head to the sidelines where everyone congratulates us and pats our sweaty shoulders. "That was awesome!" Tsukiko yells at us as we hop up onto the bleachers around the court. They're so empty. Oh god. I'm going to be sick. My stomach turns and I race off to find the nearest bathroom. Bent over a toilet breath as deeply as I can. I don't puke but I don't feel any better. Kiyomi flops onto the ground next to me and watches me. "Couldn't you have picked a nicer place to get sick."

"Shut up." I grumble at her.

"Hey, we won. You got over whatever it was. We're a good team."

I grunt and push myself to my feet. "Let's go get some juice." I mutter as I leave the bathroom. We walk to a vending machine and I buy myself a grape Ponta and Kiyomi buys an orange Ponta. She seems to know where I'm headed and walks with me to the court the boys are playing at. Kirihara notices us and grins as we walk down the bleachers. When I get to his side he puts his arm around my shoulder, "I knew you could do it."

"How'd you know we won?" I ask.

"You're grinning like an idiot." He smiles.

I roll my eyes at him and he gives me a shake before turning to the match that Niou and Yagyuu are dominating. They already won Doubles 2. Marui and Jackal are settled on the bench behind us, Marui is just as sweaty as we are, Jackal seems relatively fine. Kiyomi and I congratulate them and they congratulate us. Sanada waves me over and I go to his side.

"I knew you could do it."

"Yea, thanks…. Were you really nervous your first game?" I ask. He shakes his head and I sigh. "Well… I was… Kiyomi and I lost the first two games because I couldn't get it together…" And there were voices talking to me.

"You won." Sanada says, "That's all that matters. Learn from your experiences and don't slack off."

"Aa." I nod my head and watch Niou and Yagyuu taking off their wigs confusing their opponents. They were pretending to be each other. Nifty. They win the game. They're games are going by a lot faster than ours were, or maybe it was just mine. I don't want to go back through, I feel like I'd be sick if I went to face those girls. Kiyomi says she's going back and she'll come get me if anything interesting is happening. I watch her leave before I turn back to the game. Next is Singles 3.

"Cheer for me." Kirihara grins, "Not that I'll need it. I'm going to win in 15 minutes." He sounds so cocky as he slides out of his bumblebee jacket and starts to stretch.

"Tarundoru." Sanada warns and when Kirihara waves him off Sanada huffs.

"Have faith." I tell him.

"I do." Sanada responds instantly. "Go support your girls. Kirihara will understand." I look to the raven haired boy on the court, he's completely focused on the game.

"Tell him I'm sorry." I nod my head to Niou and Yagyuu and Yukimura before racing off to catch the tail end of Madoka and Chie's game. They won 1-6. I cheer for the two of them and then look to Imai and Tsukiko, who would play Singles 3? Imai slipped off her jacket and strutted onto the court. Go Imai! Win!

"She wins this we're set." Tsukiko leans back on the bleachers. "Three matches and this game is over." Imai rolls her shoulders and twirls her racket in her hands preparing herself for the match.

.-.

Imai won 4-6. Her opponent was incredibly agile, bounding around on the court and doing back flips and such. Imai was run back and forth but the opponent's stamina eventually gave out. Our spunky girl flipped her hair and grinned at us. "She's the stamina master." Tsukiko told Kiyomi and myself.

"I can last hours in a single tennis match and never lose my concentration." Imai boasted. "We won our first match. One step closer to Nationals."

"Good job." Hisoka came over and patted Imai's shoulder, "Good job all of you." Her striking green eyes find mine. "These matches are just going to get harder from here so all of you need to be prepared." I drop my head, I'll work on it.

.-.

Everyone heads back to school, our matches have taken a few hours so we're just going to skip whatever is left of school and practice. I stretch my legs out and watch the others stretch.

"Kichida," Yukimura's gentle voice carries over to me, "could I borrow Kokawa for a bit?" Buchou looks over at me and nods her head. Yukimura leads me off to the boys courts. "Congratulations on your win." He says as we sit on the hill we always sit on.

"Thank you Yukimura-San." I say gently.

"You don't sound happy."

"I… I am happy… but I'm also upset with myself."

"Because of your rough start?" Yukimura asks and I nod, "Everyone has their nervousness before a match, especially beginners like you. But you pulled through amazingly. I saw some of the match and I can tell you as Captain of the boy's tennis team that you have potential. You'll get more used to the nerves and slowly you'll over come them and become a really good tennis player."

"Thanks Yukimura-San." I pull my legs to my chest and wrap my arms around them. "I could hear the words those girls said… As I was playing I heard all the nasty things people have called me lately… and then once I overcame that and was so close to winning I saw my parents and they kept telling me I wasn't good enough and that I was a failure." I can feel the sadness inside me, I may have a love-hate relationship with my parents and half the time I want to run away from them but I do still care very much about what they think of me. I'm not the type of girl that likes to disappoint people.

"You know that's not true." Yukimura pats my shoulder, "You're definitely good enough for anyone." He gives me a wide smile, "Don't let those type of things bother you especially during a match. In a match the only thing you should every focus on is winning." I nod and sigh, he's right, Yukimura should become some sort of psychiatrist or something.

Yukimura stands and I follow him. I should be heading back to my practice but I can't bring myself to walk away from my Yukimura as he walks onto the boy's courts. Kirihara races over to me the second I step onto the courts, "Hey, why'd you leave? You didn't watch my match, Kokawa-San!"

"Sorry, I had to get back to my team. I heard you won in 20 minutes, you bet 15." I point a finger at him. "Don't get too cocky Kirihara-San." He rolls his eyes. "Don't worry, I'll watch you play soon." I promised.

"Good." He puts his hands on his hips and glares at me.

I roll my eyes, "I didn't see you watching my match except for that one second." That helped me get through my match.

"I didn't suspect you'd need me to be there." He shrugs.

I bat my eyelashes and look up sweetly at him, "It was my first ever official match in any sport Kirihara-Kun… and you didn't come and support me." I look down at my feet and feign upset.

"Ah! I… I had no idea! I'm sorry Kokawa!" Kirihara gets flustered and I start laughing. Instantly he glares at me. "You're cruel Kokawa!" He turns and stomps away. I giggle and watch the boys start practice, I really should head back to my practice.

"Hey, Ladybug," Niou hops up next to me, "tomorrow after practice you and me we're going out again, puri~."

"Ah, ok?" I ask.

He grins and goes off to the court, Yagyuu is waiting at. I haven't quite figured Niou out; Tsukiko tells me to be cautious about him because he's a complete player, Kiyomi tells me he's attractive, Kirihara complains about how many love letters and girlfriends Niou gets, me? I don't know what to think.

"Crap!" I shriek causing heads to snap towards me, I flush and run to Yukimura, "I gotta go! I forgot I needed to go finish something for art class I'll talk to you later bye!" And I promptly race inside as fast as I possibly could. I even took the stairs two at a time which I never do, I'm not coordinated enough and I usually fall flat on my face, today's my day and I make it up the stairs and run to the art room.

The door was open but the lights were completely off when I walked into the room, I flicked on the light and noticed a message written on the board. Sensei told me to use whatever I needed I just had to lock the door on my way out. Jun-Sensei is trusting me with key to the room. Instead of lingering over the key I go to my usual spot and dig out my supplies. We'd been working on creating a self portrait lately, and as much as I hate looking at myself in the mirror I'm starting to like my picture. We could do whatever we want but it had to be our face. Kiyomi's picture was pretty, she really went all out with this project, she had curled her hair specifically one day just for the portrait. Her picture was realistic with a real sunset behind her smiling face. Mine was a little different, I made mine look darker, bangs over one eye (so I didn't have to draw two eyes exactly the same), and a black starry background. I was painting mine, and currently adding the extreme highlights to my hair and face. Painting calmed me down, I've been known to waste an entire class mixing colors together just to see what I can create.


	19. Chapter 19

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

I find myself in a lull, mixing colors to find the perfect shade of off white. Vaguely I hear the door slide open but I'm too focused on painting an incredibly thin line on my hair. When I get the line done I look up at the tall figure in front of me. "Sanada-San? What's wrong?"

"It's late." He says as he sets my things on the table beside me. I glance out the window, he's right, it's getting dark they've probably locked the locker rooms.

"Oh." I say.

"Aa."

"I'll be just a second." I murmur as I put my canvas on a drying rack and clean up my brushes. Sanada stands silent as ever as I clean up and put the mirror I was using back. With a glance at myself I realize I'm still in my tennis uniform I open my tennis bag to find someone had put my school clothes inside neatly. I sling that and my backpack over my shoulder and Sanada leads me out of the room and locks the door for me. "Hey, I need the key." I hold out my hand, "Jun-Sensei is trusting me with it." He hands it over without a word and we leave the school in silence. "I'm surprised they haven't locked the doors." I mumble.

"Aa." Sanada says. We walk silently down the road. My ears have gotten trained to listen for any sound of footsteps when I walk home, I don't hear anything except for our footsteps for the longest time but then, sure enough, there was a light scuffle behind us. Almost unconsciously I take a step closer to Sanada who doesn't seem to notice the scuffle or my movements. He's right, it's probably nothing, a cat or something. Still my heart begins to hammer as we get closer to my house, Sanada usually just continues walking when we get to my house but today he walks me straight up to the doorstep.

"Thanks for waiting and walking me home." I murmur, hoping he can't hear my heart and how scared I am.

"Aa. Goodbye. See you in the morning Kokawa-San."

"Aa, goodbye, Sanada-San." I've started picking up the habit of saying "Aa" whenever I'm around Sanada it's strange for me since people are usually picking up my odd habits like tilting their head to the side whenever they ask a question. Normally I would have watched the guy who walked me home until they were out of sight but I head inside and lock the door instantly. Being in the dark scares me, especially now, I peek out the window and watch Sanada walk away, he's safe, nobody would bother Sanada he's so imposing.

Riot demands attention when I walk into the house. I pick her up and carry her into the laundry room and strip out of my uniform and put that and my school uniform inside. Riot meows and I snuggle her as we walk into the bathroom. I feed her and take a quick shower. When I step out and change into some baggy pjs I decide I need to call my parents, I hardly ever call, Dad especially gets mad when I call randomly. He can deal with it. I dial his number first, _ring, ring, ring_. Why is my heart pounding so hard? It's just my dad.

"Hello?"

"Hi Daddy." I try to get on his good side.

"Hi." He sounds cheerful, "What's up? Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to tell you something."

"Alright, go ahead."

"Today was my first ever official tennis match… and I won the match."

"Oh, congrats." Dad says, "Did you play singles?"

"No, I played Doubles Two with my friend Kiyomi."

"Ah." There it is, I'm not good enough to play Singles. "That's nice."

"Yea." I can hear my voice dip from my disappointment.

"Well honey, it's good to hear from you. I need to go to a meeting. I'll be home shortly. Be sure the guest bedroom and bathroom are cleaned before I get home."

"Yup, ok, bye Dad."

"Bye." And just like that he hung up. Ugh. Hopefully Mom will respond better. After seven rings her answering machine picks up: "Hi it's Kokawa Eri, leave a message and I'll get back to you soon~" _Beep_.

"Uh, hi Mom, it's me." I laugh nervously I get incredibly flustered leaving messages on people's phones. "I wasn't sure when we were going to talk again so I decided to leave a message. Today was my first official tournament and Kiyomi and I won our game. We beat the other school. It was fun," I add as an afterthought. "Anyways, talk to you soon. Love you, bye." _Click_.

Done with the formalities I head into the living room to crank on some pop music so I can clean. My mind is swirling just as the broom as I sweep. I sing along to the songs, even the English ones. Maybe I should sing in music class instead of trying to play piano or guitar. Never once has singing crossed my mind, I always sang to myself in the sanctuary of my own house. Suppose I'll have to bring it up tomorrow in class, but what if my voice is horrible? I can't tell if I sing good or bad. Suppose I'll just have to stick my neck out there and - wait what was that? I heard a _thunk_.

Ninja-like I turn off the stereo and slink through the house to peek out the front window. There's nothing out there. It's pitch black. After I check to make sure the doors and windows are locked I go back to sweeping up the kitchen but then I hear it again only this time it's more of a _plink_. It's probably just Juice or Riot getting into something. Moon appears suddenly beside me and I glance down at her, she glares up at me and the _plink_ is heard again. Moon's ears instantly perk up and she looks around. If Moon's worried than there's something to be worried about. Oh crap. What do I do? What do I do?

I'm dialing before I realize it. Oh crap. Don't pick up. Don't pick up.

"Hello?" Crap.

"Ah, hi Sanada-San." I murmur.

"Is something wrong?"

There's another _plink_, just outside the kitchen window. I jump back and race upstairs to my bedroom. "I'm not entirely sure… th-there's been this odd sound outside my house since I got home."

"Are the doors locked?"

"Yea, and the windows… it's still unsettling."

"It'll be fine. You have an alarm system." Oh right I do don't I? I have to set it! I race downstairs and turn the alarm on and I feel better. "Nothing will happen." He says. "Go to bed."

"Uh, ok." I shuffle upstairs and we say a quick goodbye. At least the alarm is on, I can sleep a little easier now, but it doesn't happen. I'm too paranoid and stay up all night listening for any burglars. Moon stays right beside me which makes me even more paranoid, she only does this when something bad is around. Like the thunderstorm that made us lose power for three days.

.-.

"_Hot and dangerous. If you're one of us then roll with us. 'Cause we make the hipsters fall in love. When we got our hot pants on and up_." Kesha sings through my phone. I've already been staring at the clock for the last six minutes, I didn't get any sleep last night, I'm so incredibly glad it's Tuesday and I don't have morning practice. Crawling downstairs I check the alarm, pleased to see it didn't go off before I crawl to the laundry room and get out my uniforms to change.

As I pack my lunch Moon, Juice, and Riot stay unusually close to me. I continuously trip on them as I move around getting everything together. They're not helping me and my paranoia. Today I think I'll even leave the alarm on when I go to school, usually I feel no need to and just leave the door locked but I'm too nervous to leave it at just that. Sanada's waiting when I leave the house finally.

He gives me a look that says "I told you that you'd be fine."

I yawn and shuffle after him. "I may be fine but I still didn't get any sleep." He hands me a thermos and I glance at him before sniffing the contents, hot chocolate. It burns my throat when I drink but I could care less and drink until I wake up. The hot chocolate doesn't settle and now instead of feeling sleepy I feel sick. "I just can't win today can I?" I yawn again.

Sanada doesn't say anything and continues to walk. You know, I think for once it'd be nice if Yanagi walked with us, even though he's so analytical he does offer some interesting conversations. I feel like I never hang out with him. Right! I have that date with Niou today. Crap. I didn't bring anything to change into, well I bet he didn't either and I don't want to feel like I'm a try-hard or anything.

"Kokawa-San!" Sanada grabs onto my shoulder snapping me from my thoughts, "Are you listening?"

"No?" I ask.

He sighs deeply. "Never mind." Crap. Way to go.

"Sorry, I've just got a lot on my mind and all." I say sheepishly.

"Nobody is going to break into your house." He states in a tone that tells me that conversation is not going to be discussed right now.

"Yea, I'm just really paranoid and all." I let out a little nervous laugh but Sanada keeps on walking. It is so hard to get a reaction from that guy he's always so straight faced and focused on tennis. It's admirable how focused he is but at the same time he's a teenager so he should be living it up, right?

.-.

Home ec class we're given a fake baby that we have to take care of. Dear God save me. It's got a sensor in it that tells when it's been ignored for too long or hasn't been fed or had a diaper change, and it cries. So, I feel like a total idiot carrying a fake baby in a baby basket through the rest of my day. At least music went well, Sensei took a liking to my idea and said starting tomorrow we'd work on my singing. But now, I've learned that I need to constantly rock the stupid baby through all my classes which is taking up a lot of my concentration, at least the teachers sort of understand… they still glare at you when the baby starts to cry. Ugh. At least my kid, who I've named Cho, has only cried once while the others girl's in the class have had their babies cry at least four times. They're not good parents.

"Dude, what the hell is that?" Kirihara hissed at me when he walked into English.

"My home ec project." I moan just as Cho begins to cry. "Damn it." I lift the dummy up and feed her a fake bottle.

"Wow, I'd hate to be you right now."

"Wanna be the baby daddy?" I ask him. He looks at me like I have four heads and goes back to his work. "Crap!" I smack my head against the table.

"What?" Kirihara asks.

"I have a date with Niou-Senpai today… and now I have this thing." I complain.

"Ha, it really sucks to be you." Kirihara teases.

"Ugh, maybe I could get him to reschedule." I mumble as I burp my "baby".

.-.

The rest of the day is miserable, Cho has quite the temper, she demands to be fed constantly and if she's not rocked at all times she'll cry. Clearly my sensei wants to challenge me because I've seen girls walk around holding their babies by their legs and not having them say a peep. Then practice sucks even worse, I have to take a break every three seconds to rock the baby and feed her it's annoying.

"I'm never having a kid!" I tell Cho as I set her down for the umpteenth time before heading back to the courts. She starts to cry. "Augh!" I'm frustrated already and I've only had her one day, we're supposed to have them for a full week and then we're graded on how much the baby cried, because it has that sensor in it. Damn it, I have the tournament coming up too. Being a teenager with a baby sucks!

"Kokawa." Buchou says finally, "Give me the damn baby, I can't have you missing practice." Buchou's offering to take my crying baby off my hands for me? Thank God! "Thank you so much." I tell her handing over Cho and her fixings.

"I had to do this last year too and I know how much of a pain it is." Kichida shows a gentler side before her green eyes snap at me, "Back to work." I turn tail and run back to the courts where Kiyomi and I are mastering the Australian Formation with the help of the Hayashi twins. Now I can focus on tennis. Thank God. Oh no. My date with Niou is next. Crap.

.-.

A/N: I would be as paranoid and as stupid as Kokawa is about the whole alarm thing... and I have no idea what home ec classes do, I know that at my school (for extra credit) you can carry one of those babies around for a week. So Kokawa get's to be a teenage mother for a week!


	20. Chapter 20

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

A/N: Thanks for all the views, reviews, and alerts/favorites everyone. Thanks you Risa for your comment, I'm pretty sure our Home ec classes are mainly cooking as well instead of a Life Science like class, I've patched this up in a later chapter solely because I need to keep Cho in to keep the story moving :)

.-.

I sit like an idiot on a bench near the boys locker rooms rocking Cho gently. Buchou is good with kids and Cho has been "behaving" all day. Man this sucks, Cho isn't real but to pretend she is? That's almost as bad as when I talk to myself. The door opens and Kirihara smirks at me. "Good luck with your date."

"Shut up." I grump.

He and Marui stalk off together with Jackal trailing after them. How do they always manage to trick Jackal into buying food for them? Then Niou walks out and his sharp eyes instantly find Cho. "You're in home ec." He states.

"Congratulations genius." Yagyuu slides around Niou and gives me a warm greeting which I return.

"Hey, I'm not the genius, Marui is remember?" Niou can't help but smirk at his own joke. "Ready Ladybug? Ladybug Junior?"

"I named her Cho?" I state lifting the carrier up along with my backpack. Just when I start to sling the backpack over my shoulder Niou grabs it and slings it over his own shoulder. "Oh, what a gentleman." I smile.

"Puri~." He smiles back.

"Hey, Niou-Senpai, can we go someplace… well I don't know… not public and not quiet? I'm afraid of Cho's crying and stuff."

"I was already thinking of that." Niou nods his head at me with a wide smile. We walk in silence and I heft the carrier, who knew a carrier could be so heavy. As we walk Niou occasionally says, "Puri~" and whenever I ask him what he's talking about he smirks and tells me he's planning something. I roll my eyes every time and secretly pray he's not planning anything to do to me. "Is this what you had in mind?" Niou asks when we arrive at a park. There's people milling about, kids playing, some teenagers playing soccer.

"Perfect." I say as we wander to a park bench and sit with my "baby" between us.

"Puri~" Niou smirks at the boys playing soccer, "Hang on a second." And he starts to get up.

"Don't pull any pranks on them." I grab onto his sleeve and yank him back into his seat. He pouts and Cho begins to cry.

"You ruin all my fun." He says and I'm assuming he's referring to me as he lifts the fake baby from the carrier to rock her a little.

"How are you so good with kids?" I question.

"I know plenty of girls that have taken home ec before." Niou states. Right, he is a player after all.

Some elderly woman wandered over and smiled wide at us. "Isn't it nice to see a young couple taking such good care of their baby. He's quite a looker you know." She winks at me. "Take care." She waves at us and I sigh once she's out of earshot.

"Could be worse," Niou bounced Cho on his knee, "you could be here alone and she'd ask who was the asshole who knocked you up and left you." I smack his arm but he just laughs. "Hey, Kokawa?"

Uh oh. "Yes?"

"Can I be the baby daddy, puri~?" I almost miss his little "Puri~" which gives him away. I wonder if he does it subconsciously because it's a dead giveaway that he's planning something.

"What are you planning?" I sigh.

"Nothing of course." His grin tells me otherwise. "I'll take her off your hands tonight." Trying to sweeten the deal.

"I haven't had her but one day." I grump.

"Trust me, you don't want one of these at night." Niou sets Cho back into the carrier before he looks up at me.

"Then why do you?" I glare.

He smiles sweetly but I can see the sadism behind it. "Don't you trust me Kokawa-Chan?"

"I don't know you." I retort. "Fine, if you promise you'll take care of her because I am graded on how many times she cries then you can be the baby daddy." Niou suddenly hugs me and starts to laugh. Oh jeez, what did I just agree too?

"You don't need to worry Kokawa-Chan! I'll take good care of…. _our_ baby." Niou grins and relaxes back into the bench stretching out.

"Have you ever thought of having a kid?" I ask making sure that Cho wasn't crying.

"Eventually of course." He shrugs, "Once I'm a lot older. I want my twenties all to myself! Partying all night long." He closes his eyes and does a little dance in his seat. "I don't want to settle down for a while."

"Then why do you want Cho?" I question.

"Look." Niou sits back up and looks at me with his aqua eyes, "I won't lie, I am the baby daddy after all, I'm going to pull a prank on someone… and I need Cho to cry… but only once! It won't be bad I swear and I will make it up to you. This is just an opportunity I can't pass up." He tells me honestly.

"You hurt my child or if I get a bad grade I will kick your balls so far up inside you you'll become a woman." I threaten.

"Jeez, you have quite the imagination don't you." Niou smirks as he relaxes in his seat again.

"You think I'm kidding?" I glare at him only stopping when he holds his hands up in defeat. "You're a masochist aren't you?"

"Nah." Niou shakes his head and starts to rock the carrier when Cho starts to fuss.

"Whatever." I flop back into the bench. We sit in a comfortable silence for some time, "Some date huh?"

"Sorry I can't take you out on an amazing date." Niou says sarcastically, "The child got in the way. Next week I'll bring you out on a real date."

I roll my eyes. "Please don't."

"Why not? Don't girls like dates? I mean all the girls I've ever talked to like going on dates and really get frustrated when their boyfriends don't take them on dates. Am I wrong?"

"How should I know? I'm only one girl." I shrug. "C'mon let's walk. There some dude over there giving me weird looks." I glare back at a brunette who's been staring me down for the last few minutes. Niou grunts and stands up before he stretches his hands high above his head as I grab Cho's carrier. The two of us wander through the park for a while before I find the swing set. "C'mon Niou-San, I want to swing." I grab his wrist and drag him forward.

"Alright give me the baby." He says as I hop onto the swing.

"You're a good daddy you know that right?" I grin at him as I start to swing while he holds Cho and watches me.

"Why because I'm not afraid to be seen with a child? Believe it or not chicks dig it." Again he winks at me.

"Yea, and you're clearly here with another woman." I tell him as I swing higher and higher.

"You'd be surprised." Niou stares past me and winks.

"You wink too much." "You talk too much. You sigh too much. And you're confused way too often." I toss my shoe at him, hitting him square in the face. He leans against the swing and rubs the sore spot on his forehead. "How'd you even get your shoe off?" Niou moaned.

"A lady never tells her secrets." I taunt as I slow down my swinging, "Now, put my shoe back on I don't want my socks to get dirty." I wave my shoe-less foot in the air.

"Get it yourself, I'm taking care of your child." Niou glared.

"I can't get it, my sock will get dirty. You don't want my nice white sock to get dirty do you?" I bat my eyelashes at him. He just stares back at me, clearly a puppy dog look won't get anything from Niou, so I try a new method and fold my arms tightly across my chest. "You owe me Senpai I'm letting you use my child for some stupid prank." He rolls his eyes and picks up my shoes. "Hurray." I hold out my shoe-less food and he, with Cho on his hip, puts on my shoe and ties it. "Thanks Niou-Senpai!" I coo.

"Ok, you're bipolar you know that?" Niou grabs my wrist and pulls me from the swing. "Angry, sad, happy, hyper. Jeez."

"If I'm so confusing then why do you want to go on dates with me?" I ask as we wander through the park together.

"I dunno, you're interesting. I could tell that from the moment I saw you. You're not like normal girls." You can say that again. "You're a mystery."

"Does this mean once you figure me out or get bored of my mystery you'll leave me?" Because you seem like that type of guy Niou.

"Who knows. I'd still be your friend Kokawa, don't get me wrong. I'm just curious. Is that a bad thing?"

If you break my heart it will be. "Besides you're not really my type."

"You're contradicting yourself." I huff.

"I like girls like you but I don't date them. It's too complicated, especially with all the mood swings." Niou passes me Cho and I hold her against my hip, the weight oddly comfortable. "So I prefer to just go on dates and be friends with girls like you." Does that mean I can cross Niou off my list of guys? He doesn't particularly want to date me and I don't particularly want to date him (solely because he's a player and a prankster). Ok, guess I'm down to two. Kirihara and Sanada… still it's a tough choice.

.-.

Mine and Niou's date went well. Niou walked me home and I said goodbye to him and Cho. Once I got home I locked and set the alarm and set to work on my homework. I typed away on a story for my English class. Minutes after I started to type my story my phone rang in my pocket. I'd set a certain ring tone for my friends, "Barbie Girl" for Kiyomi, the opening to "Jaws" for Sanada, and it was currently singing the theme song to "Star Wars" which could only mean one person. Kirihara.

"Hello." I answer cheerfully.

"Hey Kokawa. I got a question. How do you spell 'arrogant' in English?"

"_A-r-r-o-g-a-n-t._" I spell.

"Alright, thanks. You working on the story?"

"Yea, you?"

"Yea. Hey, how was your date? I hope the baby was a pain in the ass."

"Not really. Niou took care of her for the most part. Unlike you he wanted to be the baby daddy… oh, and I'd watch out if I were you, I think he's planning a prank on one of the tennis guys."

"Jeez." Kirihara huffs, "It'll probably be me, they all love picking on me! It's not my fault I'm only a second year!"

I giggle but stop short when I hear a knock on my door. "Hang on, someone's at my door." Odd, nobody comes home. Cautiously I walk to the front door and peer out the window nobody. "Huh, nobody's here…" I crack the door open and notice a slip of paper lying on my doorstep. Fast as lightning, because I'm freaked out, I snatch up the paper and close the door.

"What's up?" Kirihara asks.

"Uh… I just got a piece of paper that says 'Stay away from him' in this horrible handwriting. You're not playing some joke on me are you Kirihara?" I ask, my tone dead serious.

"No way. I swear Kokawa. That's kinda creepy."

"Yea, odd things have been happening for a few days now." It was just at Marui's party that someone followed me home right? I don't remember. Lately everything has been meshing together. "Sanada-Senpai tells me it's nothing… so it's nothing right?"

"Yea, suppose." I can picture Kirihara shrugging absently. "Can I come over Saturday after the matches so we can work on English? I've been translating that stupid book you gave me. I'm almost done."

"Good." I nod my head. "And are you listening to any of the music I said you should?" Kirihara and I talk about ways he can learn English all the time.

"Yea, you have pretty good taste in music." Kirihara compliments.

"Thanks." I tell him as I settle back into my couch. The note lingers in the back of my mind as I type on my homework. Kirihara and I talk about everything for the longest time. We talk about school, music, tennis, hobbies, cats, everything. The only topic we avoid is dating, Kirihara made a comment about getting another confession but that conversation quickly turned into a conversation about Pokemon.

"Well I gotta go." Kirihara finally says. "I'll talk to you later."

"Alright, bye."

"Bye."

_Click_.

For a second I sit in silence, staring at my phone in my hands, before I stand up, grab Juice, and head upstairs. I play with Juice for what feels like ages before I'm finally tired enough to go back to sleep. My bed welcomes me and I curl up thankful that Niou took Cho today so I could sleep rather peacefully tonight.

.-.

"_I came to dance, dance, dance, dance. I hit the floor 'Cause that's my, plans, plans, plans, plans. I'm wearing all my favorite Brands, brands, brands, brands. Give me space for both my hands, hands, hands, hands._" Music plays through my room while Juice stretches out and digs her little kitten claws into my arm. It's unusual for Juice to sleep with me, since I toss and turn so much. She stretches when I slide out of bed but otherwise remains on my bed. After stretching my body out I get ready for the day feeling oddly cheerful for it being an early morning. Just as I head out the door I hear my phone begin to ring.

"Hello?" I ask not recognizing the ringtone, it was just a default song.

"Hi." It's Dad and he sounds incredibly tired.

"Hey." What time is it over there? Has to be pretty late, or is it early? Time differences never make much sense to me.

"I wanted to tell you I'll be home sometime this weekend and the boy will be staying with us then too. Have the house cleaned. I need to make a good impression. That's all. Bye." And before I can even respond he hung up. I stare at my phone for the longest time trying to figure out what just happened.

"Are you alright Kokawa-San?" Sanada's deep voice floats through my stupor.

"Yea." I stuff my phone into my pocket, I'd stood in the middle of my driveway through the whole conversation. Sanada waited by the sidewalk, Yanagi at his side. "Good morning Sanada-San, Yanagai-Senpai." I greet them trying to be cheerful once more.

"Aa." Sanada said.

"May I ask what was the call about? You got a curious look on your face. One you only make 10% of the time." Yanagi asks as we walk down the street. The sun is just barely out, casting a yellow-ish light over everything. Morning practice sucks but it feels good to be up before it gets too incredibly hot out.

"Ah, just my dad." I shrug. "He's coming home soon and we're having this guy come live with us I guess." I shrug again, to hide how scared and uncomfortable I am about this stranger living with us I act indifferent and shrug things off. Inside my body is going crazy. I have to clean the house spotless tonight.

Yanagi asks questions about the guy that will be living with us, since he hasn't been around much I fill him in. He listens and seems to store the data away. The three of us walk to school completely silent after Yanagi said his last "Hmm." It's never uncomfortable and right now I'm thankful for it, I get to digest everything that's happened and going to happen.

.-.

"NIOU MASAHARU!" Sanada's voice booms over the girl's practice after school. We all look to each other before racing to the boy's courts. Niou runs by us in the opposite direction and gives me a wink. Sanada is fuming on the courts and everyone is cowering in the corners of the fence. Only Yukimura stands by him with something in his arms. When he turns I understand, it's Cho. Niou you horrible monster.

"Ne," I cautiously step through the girls that had crowded around the fence waiting to watch Sanada explode. Squishing myself through the door everyone parts around me leaving me standing alone on the edge of the tennis courts. Sanada's dark eyes glare at me as I shuffle up to him and Yukimura. "A-ah, Yukimura-Senpai… that's Cho." I point to the fake baby, "sh-she's my responsibility."

"Where you a part of this?" Sanada snaps and I shrink back, my hands held firm at the base of my base of my neck; a habit I did when incredibly scared or nervous.

"N-no S-Sanada-Senpai…" I swallow hard. "I-I had n-no idea w-what Niou-Senpai w-was going t-t-to do." I stutter through my words as Yukimura hands me my fake baby. I can understand why people are so afraid of Sanada, whatever Niou did he made Sanada incredibly pissed off.

"Go." Sanada snaps at me. "All of you!" His voice rose to a roar as he addressed the members of both tennis teams. "Girls back to practice! Boys 100 laps! If any of you see Niou drag him here instantly!"

For a second I'm honestly tempted to tell Sanada the general direction Niou ran off to but I don't think I could betray Niou. Sanada will find Niou sooner or later and I will remain neutral to both sides since they're both my friends. Wonderful.


	21. Chapter 21

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

The rest of the week is as blurry as a tennis ball in the middle of an incredibly intense tennis match. My mind is dead set on tennis. Tennis practice. Grip tape. New racket strings. The big game is today. We challenge the two remaining schools today. If we win then we move onto the Kanto Tournament. I'm up at the crack of dawn cleaning and dusting the house. Dad isn't home yet but Mom said last night he should be home sometime today. The good girl in me wants the house to be perfect for him, the tennis girl in me is only cleaning so my heart will get pumping.

An hour before the matches I change and head out into the hot, humid day. Sanada and Yanagi are waiting at the end of my driveway when I turn after locking the door. Sanada is still quite upset, I heard he made Niou run 500 laps and clean up after practice all by himself for the next week. Niou hasn't been able to text me and tell me exactly what he did but I'm sure it was something big. Cho lays in her stupid carries silently for once. She's been the biggest pain in my ass all week. Niou did manage to take her off my hands for another night but other than that it's been me getting up at 3 in the morning because of her screaming.

"Stupid baby I needed sleep this week." I hiss down at the thing. Neither Sanada or Yanagi reply, maybe they didn't hear me or didn't want to answer my complaints. Regardless I walk with my back straight dead set on winning my matches and not getting pregnant before I'm out of college at least.

The walk to the park wasn't long. Sanada, Yanagi, and myself wish each other luck before splitting to our separate teams. Imai has promised to take care of Cho for me since she's not playing today. I thank her, "Thank you so much Imai-San, I'll bring you in cupcakes or something I swear."

"Cupcakes?" Madoka overhears and bounds over to us. "Are you making cupcakes Kokawa-Chan?"

"Well, I guess I can one day." I shrug, cupcakes are easy to make.

Madoka squeals and hugs me tightly before her sister does too. "We love cupcakes." They cheer together.

"Alright!" Kichida's voice snaps us all into line. "We're going to submit our order! Be prepared! Don't slack off!" And we all march, perfectly in line, feeling incredibly hot and powerful in our yellow outfits, to a tent where two refs are sitting. Kichida submits our order and just like that we walk off. Kiyomi loops her arm with mine and we go off to an empty area and begin to bounce a ball back and forth.

"Ready to kick some butt?" She asks.

"Yup. No distractions today."

"Good!" Kiyomi grins at me. "We will win easily!"

"You know it!" I tell her honestly.

We bounce the ball back and forth until they announce that Singles 3 between Rikkai and Aihrara will be starting soon. I catch the yellow tennis ball in my hands and the two of us walk to the courts. Aihara had quite a fan club of girls on the sidelines all cheering. They wore dark blue tank tops and white skirts, simple but nice. Kiyomi and I hop onto the courts and Buchou merely looks at us, her way of telling us to do our best and win. One of our opponents is a girl that looks to small to be in high school with pale blond hair and the other looks average with straight black hair cut to her chin.

Our match starts with the black haired girl's serve. She tosses the ball high into the sky and bents her back so far back it's amazing she can keep her balance. At the last second her body launches itself forward and the ball zooms passed me. There's a clatter and I turn to see Kiyomi had tried to return the shot but her racket spun out of her hands. Without a thought I go and grab her racket and hand it back to her.

"Strong huh?" I murmur noticing her shaking hands.

"Be careful." She warns taking her racket before walking past me.

Let's see how strong that serve is. She tosses the ball into the air, bends back, and _snap_ the ball is speeding towards me like a racecar. I grip my racket with both hands and plant my feet. I don't care about accuracy at the moment, just getting the ball over the net. The ball slams into my racket and I can feel a vibration up my whole arm. My grip starts to slip. No I refuse to lose!

"Augh!" I grunt as I swing my racket launching the ball back over the net. A rally picks up, Kiyomi takes most of the shots which I'm thankful for. My arms are tingling and I think I'd lose my grip on the lightest of shots. Our rally lasts for quite some time. I've gathered that the black haired girl is incredibly strong while the blond is just an average player. Kiyomi gets the game point with a drop shot and comes back to the net to talk to me.

"Blond." She nods her head towards the blond girl who seemed lost.

"Totally." I nod my head back at her. "A-F?" I ask, our code for Australian Formation. Kiyomi nods and goes to the net. Our Australian Formation had improved slightly over the last week solely because Kiyomi and I have dedicated ourselves to mastering how to turn on a dime and use a split step to our advantage. There's still flaws, like me tripping over my own feet.

There's a murmur through the crowd as we stand in our formation, is it really that unusual? Focus. I bounce the ball a few times, Kiyomi holds up one finger behind her back. We should figure out a new system even though it's impossible for them to see what she's doing, I'm paranoid that someone will figure it out. I toss the ball into the air and watch if for a second before I give a little jump and hit the ball over the net. I run left and Kiyomi runs right. We both take a little hop at the same time in case we need to change direction but the black haired girl didn't know what to do and hit the ball directly towards Kiyomi. Point to us!

We hold our serve pretty easily. The black haired girl used her power to try and intimidate us into backing down but with Kiyomi and how headstrong she is I stood my ground too. The blond had surprising speed and agility but she lacked accuracy so she became our target the majority of the time.

"Game to Rikkai! 2-0." The ref called.

Now let's see what the blond does. I stand at the baseline ready to receive her shot. Body bent into a crouch, racket held firmly, eyes trained on the yellow ball. She tosses it into the air, hits the ball, and it flies into the net.

"Fault!" I sigh and drop my shoulders. Why would someone who can't even serve play on the tennis team? The black haired girl isn't even all that good to cover for her. The blond tosses the ball into the air again, much higher this time. She waits a minute before she jumps ridiculously high into the air and smashes her racket into the ball. It zips by me and I'm left star struck. I underestimated her. I can't believe I let my guard down, I can hear Sanada yelling at me inside my head telling me I slacked off.

.-.

"Game to Rikkai 4-4!" Now we're tied. I pant heavily as we continue to race back and forth across the courts. The blond proved to be much stronger than I had originally planned. She's fast and even with the accuracy problem she still managed to show us up. I glare at her and she glares back.

The sun beats hot against my back and I just want to curl up in an igloo. Sweat rolls down my back and I can't help but feel gross despite how good I'm actually feeling. My heart hammering, my legs and arms burning, adrenaline pumping through my body. Kiyomi grins back at me; she's feeling the same as I am, I can see it in her eyes. We bump wrists and when we share a single look we're both pumped up, ready to destroy the two girls.

Since the blond has shown us her powers our game isn't easy. Rallies last a long time, they sneak shots through our strong wall, they find our weakness with our Australian Formation. Not to mention the black haired girl's incredible serve. But Kiyomi and I aren't weak. Kiyomi's mastered a drop shot that when the ball hits the ground it just spins and doesn't bounce. I've improved my speed and Chie has shown me how to use my quick eyesight to see little glances and looks in people's eyes to tell me where they're going.

.-.

"Game and match to Rikkai 7-6." The ref calls out. Kiyomi and I collapse into each other panting hard. Those two were relentless, they refused to give up despite the fact Kiyomi was able to handle the black haired girl's serve and I was able to read the blond's movements. It was a tough match, but we pulled through. I bumped my wrist to Kiyomi and we grinned. When the two of us managed to drag ourselves to our feet we shake hands with the two girls who seems happily upset they lost. Losing is a good learning experience, I've learned a lot since moving here because of all the games I've played with other people. You learn about yourself more and more.

Kiyomi and I, after getting pats on the back for our win, go take a walk together. It's our way to cool down and talk. Kiyomi stretches her hands in front of us and lets out a giggle.

"Hey, Amaya, can we be doubles partners for all eternity?"

I laugh, "Sure."

"This means we need to go to college together."

"Yea." I say.

"I'm going to be a lawyer!" Kiyomi sounds so sure of herself as we walk. "What about you?"

"I think I'd like to be an English teacher. Kirihara-Kun is a lot better at English now thanks to me." Kiyomi glances at me at the name of one of my crushes. I shrug and we turn around and head back to our courts to watch Madoka and Chie crush their opponents. Imai hands me Cho and the two of us sit and watch the matches. The ball bounces back and forth, _pok, pok, pok_. As Madoka and Chie win easily, 6-1. Then Tsukiko steps up, her long hair swept into a high pony tail and she walks with pride to the court. Nobody seems worried about our matches, Kichida told us we've made it to Nationals before, only once have we won though, so the teams we're facing now shouldn't be much of a problem.

Just as Chie had predicted we won our match easily. There's a thirty minute break and then we're on to the next school. I take my baby and settle next to Yukimura on a bench. We sit in silence as we sip bottles of water. After this we advance onto the Kanto Tournament, that's supposed to start in two weeks. I'm sure our routine will be a little more relaxed for a week. Thank God, I can't stand playing so much tennis in the heat.

"Here." Yukimura presses a cold bottle of water into my hands. "You need to stay hydrated." He gives me an honest smile. "You're not used to the heat." I drink a little more but not so much, I don't want to get sick off the water. "Let's head back, good luck with your match Kokawa-Chan."

"You too Yukimura-San, though I doubt you'll be playing anytime soon." I smile and he chuckles before sauntering off. I head back to the courts alone until Imai, Tsukiko and Kiyomi tackle me.

"Hey girl!" Tsukiko says. "Let's go kick some butt."

"Yea, Sunday, if we win," Imai grins at us, "we're going out for sushi."

"Sushi!" Kiyomi cheered. "C'mon Amaya! Let's go kick some butt!"

"That's my line!" Tsukiko complains as Kiyomi races ahead of us.

We follow and I give Imai my baby and get ready for my next match.


	22. Chapter 22

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

"We won! We won! We won!" Kirihara cheers as the two of us, plus Cho, walk down the road to my house. "We did it!"

"Yes Kirihara-Kun." I giggle as he slings his arm over my shoulder and leans against me.

"We won Kokawa-Chan! We made it to the Kanto Tournament. Not like it's a surprise or anything. We are a Nationally ranked team after all!"

"Yes, yes, yes, now get off me… you're sweaty." I bump my hip against his and he steps away from me. "I'm pretty excited about this. Kiyomi and I are pretty new to the team and we're doing well together."

"Yea but you have a lot more to work on if you want to be like the Hayashi twins. Yanagi-Senpai told me they can use Synchro since they've been together forever." Kirihara prattles on about the girl's team and compares them to the boy's team. He says the boys are much better, they've been to Nationals every year for the past six years. I just roll my eyes at him as we walk.

"So have you been studying?" I ask suddenly, drawing him away from his current rant about Sanada being so mean because of Niou's stupid prank.

"Yes!" Kirihara says it like I didn't think he was studying. "I've passed all my tests lately, and I'm not getting many red marks. I'm passing English now too."

"Good." I nod my head contently, "Keep it up."

"Of course…" Kirihara trails off and looks to his feet. His cheery, carefree demeanor suddenly changes to that of a scared child. "Will you still tutor me Kokawa?"

"Of course." I tell him.

He perks up instantly, "Awesome." We walk side by side down the road to my house. "Hey, what's that car?" Kirihara asks, I follow his gaze and notice a dark blue car sitting in my drive way and my heart stops.

"It's my dad's car… he's home." I murmur.

"Oh?" Kirihara seems confused as to how to act.

My mind spins. I'm walking home with a fake baby and a guy and I'm covered in sweat. What will my dad think? I bite my lip as the two of us walk up to the door. I open the door and notice an unusual pair of sneakers in the entry way.

"Hey~ look at you! Your father was right! You're beautiful." A smooth voice chirps as I take off my shoes. "Oh, is this your boyfriend? Your father said nothing about a boyfriend. Oh, hell no, you have a kid?"

"You have a kid!" Dad's voice shrieks and I hear his thundering feet headed towards the entry. I take a sigh and look up to inspect my new housemate. Tall, blond hair in a shaggy hair cut, piercing blue eyes and an incredible smile.

"Hey~, I'm Josh Smith." He gives me a wink and I step back into Kirihara.

"Ah… I-I'm Kokawa Amaya." I stutter.

"Amaya, can I call you that, I'm still getting used to the whole given name and family name thing." He smiles. That's a lie, if he's studying abroad here he has to know that simple fact. Maybe he's just stupid. "And you are?" His eyes stab into Kirihara who doesn't back down.

"Kirihara Akaya." He glowers at the blond, I feel Kirihara's hand press into the small of my back, giving me a nudge forward, "C'mon Kokawa-Chan, I have some math questions."

"Ooh, you need help on math? Maybe I can help you." Josh trails after us. Dad stopped short of the entry and now stood in the hall, just before the stairs. He observed the three of us for a minute.

"Amaya, you're filthy." He finally states.

"I had a tennis tournament today." I explain.

"We pwn!" Kirihara tossed a fist into the air cheerfully.

"Is that your child? And your boyfriend?" Dad's eyes skip from me to the baby carrier to Kirihara and back to me.

"No, this is a project for one of my classes. I'm graded on my parenting skills." Dad, you'd fail because you're a horrible parent. "And this is Kirihara-Kun, I've told you about him before, he's my friend."

"Oh," Dad's eyes skirt over Kirihara and his sweaty appearance for a second before turning to me, "Amaya I want you to show Josh-San around town."

"I can't." I shake my head, "I have to tutor Kirihara."

"You can do that tomorrow." Dad waves his hand and saunters off.

"Josh-San, may I tutor Kirihara now and show you around tomorrow? Kirihara lives across town and it'd be quite a hassle to get together tomorrow."

Josh shrugs, "Sure. Works for me. You're definitely like your father, Amaya." And without an explanation he wanders down to the guest bedroom leaving Kirihara and I alone in the hallway.

"I don't know if I should hate him or like him." Kirihara murmurs.

"We just met him." I murmur back as I start to head up the stairs. "We can decide later." Kirihara sighs and heads up the stairs after me. I don't know how to feel about Josh either, he seems almost too relaxed or too calm. Well either way I just met the guy and I'd rather not make judgments too early.

The two of us go through our homework together. Kirihara is honestly improving, we talk in English throughout most of the time spent together. Josh pops his head into my room when we turn on my Wii. "You play video games?" He asks as he walks into my room and flops onto my bed.

"Yea." Kirihara and I say together, our eyes glued to the screen where we were playing Final Fantasy together.

"Sweet." Josh said, "Can I watch?"

"Aren't you already?" Kirihara teases but Josh ignored him. For a while it's just Kirihara and I making quick comments on how to beat a boss, Josh watches silently. "Where are you from?" Kirihara asks.

"Ireland."

"My dad was in Ireland?" I ask.

"No, Spain, my dad's from Ireland but works in Spain." Josh says idly.

"Oh, I never knew." And I didn't, sad when I don't know where my dad goes. "You don't look very Irish."

"That's stereotyping." Josh comments. "You don't look very Japanese." Good point, my hair is naturally red. "Hey, what's up with the baby?"

"Home ec." I mutter.

"Aren't home ec classes all about cooking and shit like that?" I hear the carrier Cho's sitting in squeak behind me.

"Yea." I pause and Kirihara and I focus on the game for a second. "Sorry, we do cook a lot but some foreign exchange student from America a few years ago mentioned it to the teacher. Now the teacher does this every year." Of course that girl would have to open her mouth and curse every other girl to ever take home ec. "The main reason we did this so early in the year was the teacher ran out of eggs and a few other things and we'd have nothing to do for the day." I shrug and focus on the game.

"Stupid." Josh muttered. "I'd never want to carry around a crying, whining baby."

"You're not the only one." I mutter back.

.-.

Josh stalks me and Kirihara awkwardly all through the rest of the day. He watches us go over various books for Kirihara to translate. He picked out a new book and set to work translating it while I cooked supper. Josh and Kirihara lounged on the table, Josh stalking my every move.

"See, this is what home ec should be." Josh stated as I started making a stir fry, testing a new recipe I found in a magazine. "The woman learning how to cook delicious meals."

"I can cook just fine without the class." I growl at him, if I didn't know how to cook I wouldn't have been eating all these years.

"But home ec teaches you amazing things."

"Like what?"

"How to make chocolate." Josh states.

What a stupid thing. Who would want to make chocolate? Sure there's Valentine's Day and White Day but I've never made my own chocolates before, I've never had any reason really. With a sigh I focus on my work.

"Hey, Kokawa… what's this word?" I turn and find Kirihara glaring at Josh who's reading over his shoulder.

"It's affinity. _A-f-f-i-n-i-t-y._" Josh says. Kirihara thanks him but I can hear the strain in his voice and when Kirihara's green eyes meet mine I can tell he's upset he was shown up by Josh. I give a shrug and go back to my cooking.

.-.

Josh has nice table manners and kept a nice conversation, asking about school and tennis. Kirihara is irritated, I can tell in the way he holds his fork rigidly and speaks with a very terse tone. I send Kirihara soothing thoughts until we both escape to clean up the dishes. He stands close to me as we plunge our hands into steaming hot, bubbly water.

"I hate him." He growls.

"Why? Because he's nice?"

"Because he's got such a hold over you." Kirihara blurts out before he suddenly stops moving, he stares at the sink for a while. "I-I didn't mean it like that."

"He doesn't have a hold over me." I bump my hip against his trying to cheer him back up. I like Kirihara and if anyone has a hold over me it's him. "I'm just polite."

"I know that." He goes back to washing dishes. "It's just he was so flirting with you, giving all these looks and smiles and hints and it disgusts me. He does realize you're only a second year in high school and he's what? Like a third year college student?"

"Don't worry about it, if you want we can go to your house or something for help. I'd like to see my baby kitten again sometime soon." I smile and Kirihara smiles back.

"That sounds good. Thanks." We fall silent until Kirihara's hands brush against mine accidentally and we both pull away and blush. Awkwardly Kirihara moves his hands from the soapy water and starts to rinse off the dishes. Once the dishes are finished we stand in the kitchen awkwardly. "Ah… well…." Kirihara stares at his feet, "I guess I should go home."

"Alright."

We walk up to my room and he gathers his things. I stand by the door as he shoves papers into his tennis bag. Suddenly he stands, walks to me and gives me a sudden kiss. His lips press to mine hard and for just a second before he pulls away, his face is bright red. "Sorry Kokawa-Chan! I-I didn't know what happened." He goes back to his bag and shakes his head a few times. I just stand there stunned. My first kiss. I always pictured my first kiss to be some romantic, under the moonlight, planned out kiss… not some sudden _bam_ of a kiss. My mind doesn't know what to make of it. Kirihara races downstairs and leaves without another word. I stand in my room for a minute before I dig out my cell phone and call Kiyomi. She offers no advice, except a coo over my first kiss. Since she's not helping I tell her I have to go and hang up. I fall face first into my bed and just then Cho starts to cry. Moaning into the pillow I squeeze my eyes shut, just two more nights with the baby and I can go back to my cooking in class.


	23. Chapter 23

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

Cho starts crying in the middle of the night. With an exaggerated groan I swing myself out of bed and flick on a night light. Cho wails until I lift her up and start to rock her. I rock and hum subconsciously and after a second I look down and Cho's eyes open on their own freaking me out. I step back, my legs hitting the bed and I'm forced to sit. Her artificial green eyes glow and twinkle and then her hands reach up and grow to the size of a human's before they wrap around my neck and squeeze. All I can do is squeak as my baby chokes the life out of me.

My mind whirls I have to stop this! Let go! Please! My vision goes black and I find myself falling limp against my bed as I try to scream.

"Ah!" I scream myself awake.

"Amaya!" A voice yells back, a light is flicked on and the room is flooded with light. Hands grab onto my shoulders and give me a little shake, stopping my screams. "It's alright! It was a dream!" My mind comes into focus, Cho's screaming in the background and Josh's blue eyes stare deep into mine. I push him away and grab Cho, rocking her back into a false sleep. My mind tries to make sense of what happened. "It was a nightmare." Josh says, his hand falling onto my shoulder and he pulls me against his chest. He's so warm but the hug is so awkward and unwanted.

"I'm fine." I choke, "Please."

"It's alright, talk to me about it." Josh gives me a gentle smile.

"I just had a nightmare is all." I just want him to go away.

"Do you want to talk?"

"No, please, go." I mumble.

"Alright, if you need me." Josh stands and flashes one last smile before he leaves. When the door closes I flop back onto my bed and shake my head.

.-.

"_If I needed someone to control me. If I needed someone to push me around. I would change my direction. And save myself before I drown_." My phone sings to me, I roll over and grab it to turn off my alarm. Moon, Juice, and Riot stare up at me when I shuffle into the bathroom, they're clearly upset with our new housemate and I don't blame them. Riot meows angrily at me until I fill their food bowl up with food. I scratch Juice's head for a second before I change and head out. The morning is humid and I can tell I'm going to hate today. With Cho snuggled tight against the middle of my back with some baby contraption Mom had lying about I head out.

Sanada meets up with me just down the road and Yanagi meets up minutes later. The three of us jog in silence, sweat trickles down my back but I've adapted to the heat for the most part. I still want snow and cold though. Our feet thump against the concrete until we all hear my phone blasting "Riot" by Three Days Grace, we all stop and I dig the phone out and answer it. "Hello?"

"Where are you?" Dad sounds panicked.

"I go out for runs in the morning." I tell him as I motion for Sanada and Yanagi to run up ahead. They comply without question. "Why?"

"Josh said you had a nightmare and you weren't here this morning. You didn't leave a note."

"Sorry, it must have slipped my mind." Since I've never had to leave a note before.

"Alright… you're mother's home and we're going out for breakfast together. Come home and shower immediately."

"B-" I start to protest.

"No buts." Dad's tone suddenly turns lighter, "It'll be fun."

"Aa… I'll be right there." I hang up the phone and sigh. I sent Sanada and Yanagi up ahead I'll never be able to catch up to them and make it back in time. Instead I call Sanada's number.

"Aa?"

"I'm going home. Thanks for running with me. Tell Yanagi-Senpai that too… see you tomorrow at school."

"Aa, bye."

"Bye." The second I hang up I race back to the house. After a speedy shower and change out of my shorts and tank top into nice capris and short sleeved button up we all head out and pile into Dad's car. Mom smiles at me, she got home sometime this morning, her eyes tell me that. Maybe since Dad's home she'll start working reasonable hours again. Josh wastes no time getting comfortable, sprawling himself out in the backseat, carelessly pressing his knee against mine. How do men manage to take up so much space?

The ride is oppressing. I feel like I'm going to suffocate. Cho keeps quite and I'm glad she's leaving tomorrow. Why anyone would want one, especially after experiencing having a child first hand, is beyond me. Cars and houses pass by the window that I look out of. We arrive at some fancy place and sit down for a too fancy breakfast. I can't help but wish I was with Sanada and Yanagi eating a silent meal at Denny's.

.-.

After a light breakfast Dad asks (demands) that I show Josh around and meet up later. So I wander around Kanagawa with Josh and Cho in tow. My blond haired "friend" stays too close and I feel his arm brushing against mine uncomfortably. I want nothing to do with him, despite his amazingly inviting vibe I don't want him, I'm not interested in being his friend. There's something inside me that tells me to be leery of him. Still, not to disappoint, I show Josh around and walk with him for as long as he wants.

We walk for what feels like days but it's just a few hours. We arrive home just shy of three pm. The second I walk through the door my phone rings. "Barbie Girl". It's Kiyomi.

"Hey." I answer.

"Hey, meet me at the bus station in ten, we're all going out. And don't worry, you can bring that baby." She hangs up.

"Mom! Dad! I'm heading out!" I call before I race back outside before anyone can tell me different. With them home I can tell they're going to be incredibly strict with rules, while I'm used to being able to come and go as I please. Just as I suspect, my phone rings with a text message. Mom wants to know where I'm going. Once I get to the bus stop I answer her while I wait for Kiyomi. A couple minutes later Kiyomi arrives and we hop on the bus together. "Where are we heading?" I ask absently.

"We're celebrating our win." Kiyomi smiles. She tells me nothing more as we ride the bus for a minute or two. Blindly I follow her off the bus and down the street to a small sushi store. A sign on the door says reserved for the day and I can hear quite a commotion from inside.

"Tarundoru!" Sanada's voice suddenly booms over the noise. Kiyomi laughs and slides back the door to the sushi place and when we step inside all the members from the girl's and boy's tennis team turn to us and cheer. The good mood is infectious. Everyone is sitting, laughing, and playing around. Even Sanada is lighthearted in his own way, by sitting with the rest of us and giving us strange looks instead of glaring at us. I was surprised to see that Buchou is quite a party girl outside of school; she, Niou, and Mariu sing some crappy karaoke together but nobody seems to care. I don't eat much but I don't think eating was the reason we came here anyways.

After a few hours I call it quits, I need to go home and sleep and adjust to my new life and roommate. Nobody wants to see me go but Sanada says he'll walk me home since he's heading out too. Kiyomi smiles wide at me and Tsukiko winks. I roll my eyes at the two of them playfully until Imai does a wolf-whistle, then I scurry out of the sushi restaurant as quickly as I could manage. Sanada walks beside me completely silent. Words catch in my throat, for some reason I want to talk to Sanada, I want to hear him speak, I want to know more about him.

"A-… ah…" I choke.

"Yes?" Sanada asks calmly. I squeak, embarrassed and stare down at Cho. "Is there something wrong Kokawa-San?"

"A-ah, no…" I shake my head, "Just… you know… we got that new guy living with us." I mumble, "And I don't like him. I don't know why. I just don't, there's something about him that makes me want to stay away from him and it's completely unreasonable because he's a nice guy… at least he appears to be… he took me out to lunch and was a complete gentleman today." I can't stop myself from blabbering on to Sanada. "I just, I don't know…" I trail off mentally kicking myself for losing my control like that. I don't dare to look up at Sanada, he's probably frustrated I just blabbed my stupid problems to him.

Sanada's silent for the longest time but when he finally speaks, his deep voice jumps me, "You just met him, Kokawa-San, give him some time. You know better than to make judgments based on appearances." Isn't that the truth? I would never have guessed I'd be close friends with Sanada before I moved here.

"Yea… you're right." We fall silent again. "Hey, Sanada-San?" I blurt out.

"Aa?" He's completely unfazed.

"What's your favorite color?"

"A-?" That fazed him, I glance up and he's peering down at him with a curious look on his face.

"I… I'm just curious." I back track instantly. "Mine's midnight blue. I mean, I like all shades of blue but I like midnight blue the best. Oh, and that's the shade of blue between navy and black. It reminds me so much of the night sky…" I stare up at the pink-ish purple sky. "Back home I could take a short walk and have the most beautiful view of the sky and the stars. I always feel most comfortable at night… that's why I like the color midnight blue… I guess." I trail off lamely, I just rambled again.

We walk quietly again. "Black." Sanada says randomly.

"Huh?" I look up at him but he's staring straight ahead.

"My favorite color is black… or grey." He explains.

"Oh… alright." I say back. How original, somehow I figured Sanada would like black and grey, not some random color like neon green. We walk together until I hear the footsteps behind us. I glance up at Sanada and he glances back but otherwise does nothing. He doesn't even say anything when I step closer to him so our arms brush against each other as we walk. He, like Josh, is incredibly warm. Heat radiates off Sanada as does confidence, it leaks off him and soaks through my skin as I clutch Cho's baby carrier.

When we reach my home, Sanada walks me to the door. "See you tomorrow." He turns to walk off but I call out to him and snipe his hat from his head. "Give that back tomorrow." Is his sole response before leaving me to scurry inside. Moon races to greet me with a meow before Josh peeks his head into the entry. "You're home!" He cries happily. "C'mon, we're going to watch a movie together. Your parents didn't want to watch it with me." Josh grabs my wrist and drags me into the living room that he's decked out with a giant bowl of popcorn and a large blanket.

I would be lying if I said Josh wasn't good company. He joked and teased and was easy going. Still, despite the fact he was easy to be around I couldn't deny something inside me was screaming "Run you stupid bitch! Run!" I shoved that down inside me with the voice that was screaming "Pretty. Pretty. Pretty. Must be pretty.". It was late before I finally went to bed.


	24. Chapter 24

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

A/N: I've been up since 12:30 am thanks to a drunk driver hitting the telephone pole right outside my window (he's alright, walked away from the accident literally) it was quite fun to see the fire department, police, tow truck, and then the electrical company do their jobs (I got to watch them put in a new telephone pole :D ) Anyways, the reason for this rant is to say I'm not doing a final run through of this chapter, so there may be more errors in than usual, please tell me if you notice any :) Thanks!

.-.

Goodbye Cho. It was fun to be a mom for a while. I walk down the halls flapping my arms from the lack of a baby carrier. People stare at me but I don't really care. Yanagi passes me in the halls and he cracks a smile. I'm grinning like an idiot as I walk into my geography class. Today's gonna be a good day. I can feel it.

On the way to English class I head to the staircase. Just when I start to step someone shoved me hard. My feet trip and my arms flap as I try to regain my balance. I squeeze my eyes shut, not wanting to see the stairs bash into my face. All of a sudden I'm stopped by a strong, warm force. I hear a distant, "Umph." when I hit whoever I hit. "Are you ok Ladybug?" Niou lifts me just enough so my feet, which had caught on the lip of the stairs were freed and I was able to stand on my own. I nod, my body shaking from fear. "Do you have a problem with my Ladybug?" Niou suddenly turns his attention up the stairs as he drapes an arm over my shoulders carelessly. Yamasaki stands at the top of the stairs glaring down at us.

"She's stolen my spotlight." Yamasaki hisses.

"She deserved the spot. She beat you fair and square." Niou says.

"It's my spot!" Yamasaki stomps her foot childishly. "She's nothing but a bitch and a whore! Always chasing after all you guys!" Yamasaki glares at me.

"She's not a whore." Niou states calmly, "And she's not chasing after any of us. She's our friend. Now, I suggest you leave my Kokawa-San alone or you'll have to deal with me and everyone on _both_ tennis teams. Do you really want that to happen?" Niou narrows his aqua eyes at Yamasaki who turns and storms away with a loud "Augh!" Niou leads me down the stairs, his arm over my shoulders.

"Don't worry about her." Niou smirks as we stop in front of the English classroom. "I'll take care of it. Piyo~"

Part of me wants to tell him not to prank her, part of me wants to tell him to prank her… I watch him walk away without saying anything. Kirihara grins at me when I enter the room. "You don't have that stupid baby anymore!" He announces happily.

"Yes," I roll my eyes, "_it was just a week assignment._"

"_Still, it was annoying. She always cried._" Kirihara moves smoothly into English. He's definitely improved. I smile at him and we chat until class starts.

.-.

"This isn't funny!" I shout frustrated. Everyone in the general area stares at me, I ignore them. There are more important things on my mind than if I'm making an idiot out of myself. In my locker was another note: "I'm warning you! Stay away from them! They're mind, whore." I grab the note and my lunch and race out to the hill where Yukimura was sitting with Yanagi. "Yukimura-Senpai!" I cry.

"What's wrong Kokawa-Chan?" Yukimura asks instantly turning his attention to me. I curl up close to his side and show him the letter. "Oh, just ignore it Kokawa-Chan… it's probably nothing." I bring up the footsteps following me and every other creepy thing that's happened lately. "Don't be worried just tell me if anything drastic happens ok? It's probably nothing." Yukimura gives me a smile. Yanagi says nothing but has been scrawling in his notebook the whole time I started to talk.

.-.

After practice I stood outside the boy's locker room waiting for Sanada and maybe Yanagi. I twist and fiddle with the strap to my tennis bag. Practice for this week won't be running as late but next week they'll be running late to prepare for the Kanto Tournament. Kirihara asked me a simple question about English when he left the locker room but didn't stay long. Niou winked at me and he, Yagyuu, Marui, and Jackal left together. Those four always seem to be hanging out. Part of me wishes Kiyomi would just spontaneously appear to go out on a date with me for no reason. Or Tsukiko, or Imai.

"Ready?"

"Hm?" I snap out of my thoughts and find Sanada peering down at me. "Yea, let's go." I hike my tennis bag up onto my shoulder and the two of us leave together. "Yanagi and Yukimura staying behind?"

"Aa." Sanada says. Yanagi and Yukimura always stay behind to work out schedules or something. I wonder why Sanada never stays behind because he's the Co-Captain, I want to ask but I don't. When we reach the gate there's a familiar black car and blond haired boy standing there.

"Hey Amaya." Josh greets me warmly completely ignoring Sanada. "I'm bringing you home. Your Mom asked me to." He stuffs his hands into his pockets and nods his head to the car. "Let's go."

"Ah… oh… ok. Bye Sanada-San, I'll talk to you later." I give my friend an awkward wave before I slide into the expensive car. Josh starts the car and drives smoothly through the road.

"How was school?" He asks.

"Good." I reply.

"See you don't have that crying baby anymore."

"Yea."

"Got any homework?"

"Some." I don't know why I'm giving such short answers, I think I'm just uncomfortable.

Josh changes the radio to some hip hop and taps against the steering wheel. I wait silently wishing I was walking with Sanada despite the fact I'll be home a whole lot sooner by driving. When we pull into the driveway Josh parks the car and gives my knee an awkward squeeze. "Your mom has left some chores for you. She said she'll be home in time for supper." I scramble out of the car as smoothly as I could not wanting Josh to touch me, his hands are clammy.

"So Mom's at work?" I ask as I unlock the front door.

"Yea, Dad is too." Josh stands too close to me when I slide out of my shoes.

"Alright." I say, "Well I have homework to do." My body shudders when Josh trails his hand down my arm before I run upstairs to my room to work on my homework. Moon stays close to me until I hear a little _plink_ against my window. I go and look out my window but see nothing. Probably was nothing.

_Plink_. I look out the window but see nothing. _Plink_. A few minutes later but there's still nothing, just a few small bushes and a light post. Frustrated I close the shades on my window and turn back to my laptop where I'm talking to Kiyomi about our homework. Then I hear the door slam shut. Curiously I peer down the hall and watch Josh storm into view. "Tell you're stupid admirer to leave us alone!" He yells up at me.

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

"Someone just knocked on the door but there was nobody there, just this note with your name on it." He crumples up the paper and tosses it into the trash. "It's annoying."

"It's only happened once." I tell him.

"Happened all day Sunday and Saturday." Josh says with a glare. "Somebody kept knocking at the door and whenever I opened the door there was nobody there. Pissed me off. You tell whoever it is to leave us alone. I bet it's that little curly haired boy that was here Saturday. He seems like the loser type to stalk a girl."

"It wouldn't be Kirihara." I say, "He promised me it wasn't."

"So this has happened before?" Josh folds his arms.

"Once." I shrug, "There was a note telling me to stay away from my friends. It's nothing." I say to calm myself more than him.

"Whatever." Josh saunters off. I go back to my room to tell Kiyomi what's happened. She says it's creepy but offers no advice on what I should do. Guess I'm just going to have to deal with this, it probably is nothing.

.-.

I wake up in the middle of the night because Riot sat on my chest and squeezed the life out of me. My throat screams for water, it's too hot right now, even at night. So I saunter downstairs in my pjs and get a drink of water. As the water slides down my throat I stare out the window and notice something move. I choke on water and peer out the window but see nothing but I know I saw something move. Like the chicken I am, I head back upstairs and dive under my blankets. My heart hammers and my logical side tells me it was nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Now go to sleep. Sleep.

.-.

My phone's singing but I tune it out, my head throbs. There's a knock on my door and I hear it creek open. In an instant I sit up and find Josh peering into my room. "Morning." He says as I grope for my phone to turn it off. "Do you want me to bring you to school?"

"I'm fine." I tell him.

"Alright, I'm heading to school… Your parents left already and I made you lunch." He gives me a smile. "See ya after school Amaya." I stand still until the door closes and I hear him walk downstairs. I don't know what to do right now, it's so odd having someone here all the time… I'm never going to get used to Josh being around. Pushing those thoughts out of my head I get ready for school.

Josh did pack me a lunch and since I didn't wake up when I should have I was running behind and just grabbed it praying it was something I would like. Sanada's leaning on the house when I fling the door open. I shriek, surprised by his tall, dark presence and stumble down the steps. He grabs me and steadies me.

"Are you alright?" He asks.

"Yea." I clutch my heart and pant. "Sorry! I was running late and I've got a lot on my mind and you scared me!"

"Sorry." Sanada says as we start to walk. "I assume that was Josh-San, who took you home last night." When I nod he nods back and we walk together peacefully.

"Hey… Sanada-San?" I murmur.

"Aa?"

"There was someone standing outside my house last night."

"Aa?" Sanada sounds confused.

"Yea…" I tell him about waking up for a glass of water and seeing something. Then I tell him about what Josh said about the person knocking on my door. "I'm getting scared."

"It'll be alright." Sanada says confidently.

"If you say so." I murmur. If Sanada says it'll be ok then it'll be ok.


	25. Chapter 25

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

Kiyomi drapes her arm over my shoulder as we head to practice together. School had been uneventful, no notes in my locker, no crying babies, no getting shoved down the stairs. I was in a pretty good mood for once.

"Today we'll be practicing with the boys!" Bochou announces. "Everyone warm up!" We all begin to jog around the field a few times. After that we stretch and the mass of girls head over to the boy's tennis courts. Kirihara bounces on his feet the second he sees us. He's grinning from ear to ear.

"Everyone line up!" Yukimura announces as Kichida stands beside him. Sanada and Setsuko stand up front too while everyone else lines up. "We'll be holding practice matches today. First years and second years to the girl's courts and practice swings. Third years watch the matches. Aki, go watch the first and second years." Yukimura orders a third year off, the brunette grunts and runs off after the younger players. Kichida announces the same for us girls and half the team vanishes.

"Doubles 2 on Court A! Doubles 1 on Court B! Singles 3 on Court C!" Yukimura calls out. He refs the Singles game, Kichida refs Doubles 1, and Sanada refs Doubles 2. Niou and Yagyuu stand opposite of Kiyomi and I. I gulp nervously, these are National level players and I've only just started playing official tennis. Kiyomi grins. "Let's have a good game!"

"You too Butterfly, Ladybug." Niou winks at us and I roll my eyes and shake hands with Yagyuu. "Don't worry though, we'll go easy on you."

I get first serve and bounce the ball a few times and calm my nerves. It's just a game. Kiyomi bounces on her feet happily. I toss the ball into the air and watch it before I slam my racket into it full force.

.-.

"Game and match to Niou/Yagyuu pair. 6-0." Sanada announces, Kiyomi and I flop to the ground exhausted. Niou and Yagyuu are clearly a better pair than we are, they're just more experienced is all. Kiyomi sticks her tongue out at Niou childishly when he teases us about their straight win.

"Oh shut up." I crawl to my feet, sweat rolling down my body. "Jeez, you guys are good." I stretch my hands over my head and feel my muscles burn. The other two courts were still being used, our match was over in the blink of an eye.

"C'mon Amaya! Let's run laps! We need to work on our stamina!" She's panting just as hard as I am when she grabs my wrist and drags me out of the courts and start to run around the courts.

We run ten laps before Kiyomi just about passes out. I have to haul her back to a bench where we both collapse. Kiyomi drinks greedily from her water bottle I got her and I just even out my breath ignoring the metallic taste in my mouth. Of course Kiyomi's right, we need to work on our stamina but as long as we're working together I think we'll be fine. As I think something smashes hard into the side of my head, knocking me off the bench. I land hard on the ground and yell in pain.

"Amaya!" Kiyomi yelps as I grab my head and squeeze my eyes shut. "Are you ok?" Yea I'm totally fine, I'm just crying and yelling in pain because it's fun. "Ah… ah… what do I do? What do I do? BUCHOU!" Kiyomi suddenly screams out. I'm not hurt that bad, I think as I squeeze my head because it makes the pain hurt less. There's sharp pains on either side of my head and my face is starting to sting from me scraping it against the concrete. I try to sit up but my head throbs and Kiyomi pushes me back down. Feet come running and I hear people crowd around me.

"What happened?" Yukimura asks, panic in his voice as his cool hands press against my forearms.

Kiyomi stammers out the story at the same time someone says, "It was an accident! Some freshman hit a ball too hard." I'm not familiar with the scratchy voice.

"It's ok, Aki, as long as it was an accident." Yukimura says gently. Aki was that third year right? "Amaya, can you sit up, gently now." Yukimura and what I think is Kichida help me sit up and lean back against the bench. "Renji." Yukimura says idly as someone grabs my wrists and pushes them away from my head.

Fingers prod and poke at my head. I moan and just squeeze my eyes shut and ball my fists up. This hurts so bad. Make the pain go away. "Kirihara, go get the first aid kit." Yanagi says close to my ear. I peek my eyes open and find Yukimura and Kiyomi watching me worriedly. The others stand close by, some looking more worried than others. Yanagi presses a cool finger to my temple and I hiss in pain. Kirihara races back with a first aid kit, he stares at me with wide eyes. Yanagi opens the container and I hear a _crack_ before he presses something against my head. "Kirihara hold that tightly." Kirihara takes the icepack and holds it to my head. I space out then and let Yanagi do whatever it is he needs to do for my head. He says it's nothing much and wants me to take it easy, stay hydrated, and keep my head on ice for the rest of the night. If I want any medication I need to ask him first.

.-.

Kirihara has questions on his homework so he and I sit on the hill by the courts and work quietly. My head aches and Yanagi won't let me take anything to dull the pain, so I fight through it. Kirihara asks simple math questions and English questions. Then we sit there in silence for some time.

"So… you're ok right?" Kirihara murmurs.

"Yea." I murmur back opening my tennis bag to put my math book away. Then I notice the stray piece of paper in between my rackets. I keep my bag neat and organized. No papers ever drift around.

"_Slut, stay away from them or next time you won't wake up._" The note reads in sloppy handwriting. My hands shake at the words, what? Was this a death threat? Tears pool in my eyes, I'm so emotional because of my head pain.

"Kokawa?" Kirihara asks noticing my distress, "What's th-" He stops short. "No, it's ok Kokawa, it's nothing." Kirihara takes the note from my hands and crumples it up. I start to cry. "N-no, don't cry Kokawa! Please!" Kirihara pleads but I can't stop myself I drop my head onto his shoulder and cry. "Ah! Kokawa! Please it's ok! There's nothing to cry about! It's nothing please." Kirihara scrambles to make me feel better, he has no clue what to do as I sob.

Eventually Kirihara just holds me tightly to his chest telling me not to cry. He pats my back awkwardly, until I finally can't cry anymore and my head feels like it's going to implode. "Sorry." I pant against his shoulder, wiping my tears against his already wet shirt.

"I-it's ok." Kirihara pushes me away gently and watches me for a second. "Let's go home ok?" I nod my head and rub my tears away from my face. "You should tell someone about these notes and stuff." The raven haired boy says as he pulls me to my feet. "I mean, this is pretty serious Kokawa-Chan."

"Well, everyone I've told says it's nothing… or does nothing about it."

"Tell someone important like your parents." I give him a look. "Ok, well maybe not your parents but maybe a teacher? Jun-Sensei? The principle? Somebody."

"I'm fine." I murmur.

Kirihara narrows his green eyes at me. "Clearly you're not."

"I'll be fine." I restate. "Look I have to go." Josh is by the gate looking a little frustrated. "See ya Kirihara."

"Bye Kokawa." Kirihara mumbles before he saunters away.

"What took so long?" Josh asks.

"Practice, and Kirihara needed some help." I explain sliding into the car.

"Oh, alright, why's your head red?" Josh jogs around the car and climbs into the driver's seat. "Did a tennis ball hit you?" I nod my head and Josh laughs. "Only you kiddo." If you only knew.

When we arrive home I head upstairs to my room and inspect my head, sure enough I have a red mark on one side where I hit the ground and a purpling bruise on the other from the tennis ball. Clearly this wasn't an accident, there was so much power behind that ball, and for a first year to be able to hit like that it was highly unlikely. With a sigh I do my homework silently, trying not to think too much because of my pounding skull. About an hour later the door opens and Mom walks in and sits on my bed beside me. "What happened?" She asks gently as she pressed an ice pack to my head.

"I got hit in the head with a tennis ball and hit the ground." I mumble.

"I'm sorry sweetheart." She kisses the top of my head.

"Mom… I think someone's stalking me." I admit.

"What do you mean?"

I tell her everything as I lean against her shoulder, her vanilla scented perfume drifts into my nose. She listens without a word, her hand rubbing my shoulder. "I'll see what your father can do. Until then I don't want you to be alone ok? Not anywhere."

"Yea." I murmur. She kisses my head and heads downstairs to make supper since I can't move very well. I look out my window, my face pressed against the cool glass, the sky is a golden color as the sun sets. I sigh and notice something moving by the road. Turning awkwardly I watch someone pace just feet away from my house. Back and forth back and forth. Then the figure pauses, looks up in my direction and bolts off. My heart beats out of my chest, that was the stalker, it had to be. I run downstairs and fling the front door open but there's nothing.

"Amaya." Mom calls but I don't listen. I step into my shoes and head out. My mind is racing, I need to figure this out and now. I can't live my life in fear. My feet carry me down the street as I hunt for anyone out of the ordinary. But there's nothing. Absolutely nothing. Frustration runs through my veins and I turn around only to find a tall figure standing before me.

"Ah!" I jump back and hold my hands up ready to fight. There's a millisecond of what sounds like a chuckle and I realize it's only Sanada. "Sanada-San!" I cry lowering my hands, "You scared me!"

"Aa." Sanada nods his head, "What are you doing out here?"

"Well, there was someone pacing by my house and when they looked up and saw me watching them they ran off… so… I followed." The more I think about it the stupider I feel.

"So you chased after some random person with nothing more than the clothes on your back?" Sanada asks.

"Yea, stupid idea I know… but it was a spur of the moment kind of thing. Ow." I hold my head which is aching thanks to my mad dash out the door.

Sanada sighs, "Let's go home Kokawa-San." When he turns I trail after him silently, my head hurts and I feel like an idiot. "If you plan on chasing this person down at least have pepper spray or something like that with you. Clearly you can't fight." His brown eyes assess me.

"Says who?" I pout.

"Me." He looks straight ahead.

"Whatever, I can punch just fine for a girl." Sanada chuckles for a millisecond and I pout on the outside while my whole body shivers on the inside. Sanada needs to laugh more often. I pull back my hand and punch Sanada as hard as I can in the side. He doesn't even move an inch while my hand burns from the contact. "Ow! Jeez! What are you made of lead?" I poke his side and he swats my hand away before storming away. He's rock solid and I'm incredibly jealous. "Sanada-San! Wait up!" I whine. He slows just enough for me to catch up to him.

"You can't hit." He states.

"Not everyone is made of lead you know." I glare at him but he doesn't speak anymore. I roll my eyes and let him lead me back to my house.

"My family keeps asking about you." Sanada says as we get close to my driveway. "They want to know how you're doing."

"Oh," I say, "uhm. Tell them I'm doing great." I give him a smile.

"They want to know when you're coming over again." He explains.

"Oh… I don't know." I shrug, I didn't know they liked me that much.

"Why don't you come over tomorrow after practice? I'm sure they'd like the company." Sanada offers. "And I could teach you how to punch correctly." I huff and roll my eyes but otherwise agree. "See you then Kokawa-San."

"Bye!" I wave and run up to my house.


	26. Chapter 26

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

I'm restless that night. Thoughts of the stalker rule my brain and when I finally push that out of my head I worry about Sanada and his family and what they think of me. I toss and turn and try to tell myself they already like me, what's there to fuss about? Then Kirihara's image pops up in my head. My mind stops dead, Kirihara. I think I've decided it's best if we're friends. Not only can I not see us together anymore, even after the kiss, I tend to cry a lot and Kirihara got so panicked I wouldn't want to worry him with my pointless tears. And that leaves…

"_And I'll be wearing white when I come into your kingdom. I'm as green as the ring on my little cold finger, I've never known the lovin' of a man. But it sure felt nice when he was holdin' my hand. There's a boy here in town says he'll love me forever. Whoever thought forever could be sever by the sharp knife of a short life, well I've had just enough time._"

My phone tells me it's time to get up and I groan despite the fact I'm already mumbling the next few lines to the song. I crawl out of bed and take a quick shower to wake myself up before I get ready for the day. Early practice just needs to go die in a hole. My feet shuffle out the door where Sanada and Yanagi are waiting. My heart does a stupid little flip and I lower my head embarrassed. I just decided like 40 minutes ago who I liked and already the transformation of a real full on crush has appeared. Great. My body lags behind because I stayed up all night.

"Are you coming?" Sanada grumps.

"Augh." I grunt back.

Yanagi falls back to my side and prods my head gently. I swat at his hand and squeeze my eyes shut. "You have to take it easy at practice today, no strenuous activities. Has anything happened with the stalker?" I fill Yanagi in, he scribbles away in a notebook as I do. I close my eyes for a second thinking maybe my body can rejuvenate itself in a few second, only to stumble and fall against Sanada's back.

"Augh." I grunt again, "Why'd you stop?" I blink to regain my eyesight to find Sanada's stopped in front of our café. "Do you want me to be sick?" I mutter.

Sanada doesn't listen and he walks into the café with Yanagi at his side. I huff and follow them inside. My capped friend buys me a breakfast sandwich and a latte and we head out. "You're not practicing anyways." Sanada tells me when I glare at him for buying me a sugar-coma inducing drink so early in the morning. He's right of course, I need to wake up for school.

.-.

Practice sucks. Buchou won't let me do anything. Not even jog around the field. I have to sit like a lump on a bench and watch everyone else practice. Kiyomi looks completely lost without me by her side, we always practice together. Imai offers to be her stand in doubles partner. I think it's a good idea for us to learn how to play doubles with other people in case of an accident but still. I'm distant and dreary all through the day, my head hurts and Yanagi isn't around for me to ask him if I can take any medication. People keep asking me what I did to myself because I have a large bruise on the side of my head that no amount of makeup can conceal. Not to mention I'm completely exhausted from lack of sleep.

I had to stay after school to clean up the Geography room… I gave an uncharacteristically smart-ass remark to the teacher thanks to my exhaustion. Not like it makes a difference, I wouldn't be practicing anyways. The broom seems to do all the work itself as I sweep the floors. Once the room is tidied up I head out to get my street shoes. I open the door and a little note slips out. Instantly I crumple it and change my shoes. Halfway to the courts I decide to open the note. "_Slut_." I crumple the note, toss it into a garbage can, and walk off.

With Buchou's permission I go and watch the boy's practice. Yukimura and I sit on the hill together and watch. I keep my legs pulled to my chest and watch. Yukimura says nothing as we sit there. "Kokawa." He finally says.

"Mhm?" I murmur.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine." I say automatically despite the fact my head is screaming in pain.

"And about the stalker?"

"Scared."

"About Sanada?"

"Confused…. Wait what?" I stare at Yukimura with wide eyes, he smiles sweetly back at me. "What do you mean?"

"I'm curious." Yukimura shrugs and leans back on his hands. "Kirihara is quite smitten with you, that much is incredibly obvious. But Sanada's hard to read, you know that, he's so stoic." Yukimura sighs. "Lately there's been something off about him, I actually heard him laugh the other day. I'm pretty sure everyone in the locker room at the time crapped their pants they were so scared." I burst out laughing and Yukimura joins in.

"You're right though." I admit, "I heard him chuckle the other day too. But it's not because of me. I haven't done anything… we rarely talk and lately with Josh being around I haven't seen much of him."

"So, do you like him?"

I feel my face heat up. "Ah… I… I… yes." I stammer out. "But I don't know anymore! I've never known! I'm so confused Yukimura. I like Niou but we're just friends. I like Kirihara but he's just too sweet and innocent. And then there's Sanada… and I can't ever read him… I don't know what to think Yukimura."

"Talk to him." Yukimura says. "He doesn't know what to think either. The only way to find out is to talk to him right?" Yukimura giggles suddenly, "You two would make a cute couple."

"Yukimura! Don't say things like that." I blush and turn away but take his words to heart. Would we make a cute couple? Would we even make a couple? Oh dear, don't get ahead of myself. I don't even know what he thinks about me. "Oh God, I'm going to his house today." I thump my head against my knees and groan in pain.

"Have fun." Yukimura stands and blows his whistle, ending practice. Sheepishly I hide in the girl's locker room and find Kiyomi and Tsukiko talking.

"Guys…" I mutter walking up behind them gathering their attention. "I'm going over to Sanada's house today… and I think I like him."

"Aw!" Tsukiko and Kiyomi coo loudly. Tsukiko wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me close, "My baby is growing up!"

"I'm not a child." I complain pushing Tsukiko away from me.

"So what's the problem?" Kiyomi leans against the lockers, her arms folded.

"I don't know. I just feel really awkward." Curse me and my stupid crushes.

"Just be natural." Kiyomi shrugs. "You've been friends with this guy since you moved here."

"Yea, you're right." Of course she's right it's Kiyomi after all. I say goodbye and head outside. Sanada's waiting, looking as stoic as usual. Together we walk to the gate where Josh is waiting. "Hey, I'm going to Sanada's house." I tell my blond housemate.

"Huh?" Josh looks from Sanada to me and back again. "Why?"

"His parents invited me over, and I have some questions on my history homework." I lie about the last bit.

"Oh, alright, I guess I'll get take out. You're parents are working late again. Be home at a reasonable time… do you want a ride?"

"Nah, we'll walk." I say politely. When he drives away in my dad's black car (what is my dad driving?) I sigh and drop my shoulders. "Thanks for having me over Sanada-San… I don't know how to feel about Josh right now." Or you for that matter.

"Aa. You're welcome." Sanada says as he tips the brim of his hat down a little bit. My heart starts to hammer and my stomach twists uncomfortable. Stop doing that, it's just Sanada, he's my best friend.

"Hey, Sanada-San?"

"Aa?"

"When's your birthday?" I ask lamely.

"21st of May."

"Oh! That's right around the corner!" I gasp.

"Aa." Sanada says slowly. "And your birthday?"

"November 19th." I say proudly.

"Aa." Sanada says but my mind is elsewhere. His birthday is just around the corner. I have to do something! Right? Oh dear. What do I do?

The walk is quiet but I don't mind. Sanada just gives off an air of confidence, even the footsteps following us doesn't bother me as long as Sanada's beside me. That sounded weird, even to my love-sick self. I shake my head, Sanada glances at me, and I give him a meek smile in return. He huffs and walks a little faster to his house. I trail after him as he opens the door and steps inside. He leads me through the house to the kitchen where his mom is cooking.

"Ah… Hi." I say meekly.

She spins around and when she spots me she pulls me into a tight hug. She smells like a warm home. "Oh it's so good to see you Kokawa-Chan! How have you been? What's wrong with your head? Are you ok?" I assure her it's nothing. "You know you're welcome anytime."

"Kokawa-Chan is here?" Genemon's voice echoes through the house. I giggle as Genemon pulls me into a hug. He smells musky. "Good to see ya little lady. Wow that's quite the bruise there. You're ok right?."

"I'm fine. Thanks for having me over." I bow slightly.

"Anytime dear!" Genemon and Haruko say together. "Supper will be ready shortly." Haruko says as Sanada starts to walk down the hall silently. I trail after him and he leads me into the dojo.

"I'm going to practice." Sanada tells me before he vanishes again. I kneel on the wooden floor and awkwardly wait. Sanada shows up a minute later in traditional clothing with a sword at his hip. "You can do homework, just be quiet… please." Sanada says not looking at me. I can't work on homework, not yet, it's addicting to see him without his hat on and in traditional clothing. Sanada pulls out a straw bundle to practice with and I watch him unsheathe the sword and stand perfectly still for a moment. I hold my breath and as quick as I can blink the bundle is chopped in half with a little _shink_ and an "Ha!". My eyes grow wide as saucers, Sanada is so fast! "You don't need to stare." Sanada mutters.

"Ah, sorry." I dig through my tennis bag for something to work on. Math, I have math homework. Trying to ignore the sound of Sanada practicing I focus on my homework.

"Ha!" _Shink. Thunk._ I glance up at Sanada and watch how flawlessly he moves.

"How do you do that?" I ask. He freezes midstep and I shrink back into the wall. When he looks at me instead of annoyance I see pride in his eyes. He motions for me to stand and I do. He presses the katana into my hands. I instantly push it back. "No, no, no. It's a bad idea to give me sharp objects."

"You cook." He deadpans. "You deal with sharp knives all the time."

"Well this is different." I push the katana back into his hands.

"It's not that difficult." Sanada insists, he grabs my hands with his and forces me to hold the katana. My heart hammers as Sanada moves my arms through the motion he wants. He stands behind me and pushes my feet into the correct position. I hope he can't hear my heart as he takes my arms and shows me how to move them again. Quick as lightning he places a new straw bundle thing in front of me and steps back. I stare at him. He nods his head towards the bundle and I shake my head.

"This is a stupid idea and you know it." I tell him before focusing back on the bundle.

"Think of it as a cucumber or something." I picture a cucumber but it doesn't help so I push that thought away and stare at the bundle. With a deep breath I ready myself and strike. The katana gets stuck halfway through and I let out a cry. Sanada laughs, honestly laughs, as I tug on the sword to free it. "_Sanada_!" I whine. He covers his mouth to hide his smile but I can see his eyes twinkle with amusement. "It's not funny!" I let go of the sword and pout. Sanada steps up and pulls it free and slices the thing in half in a second. I pout, "Showoff." Sanada gives me a smirk.

I sulk in my corner and watch Sanada. Inside I'm squealing with happiness, Sanada laughed and honestly smiled at me. He needs to smile more, his whole face lights up when he does. But that's a little idealistic isn't it?

Sanada's mom peeks her head into the dojo not long after and tells us dinner is ready. I trail after her since Sanada needs to change. Genemon pats the seat next to him with a wide grin. I return it and sit down before greeting Sanada's father who seems pleased I'm visiting. They really do like me here don't they? Sanada arrives a minute later and sits on my other side.

"I hope you like yakisoba." Sanada's mom smiles at me. I nod happily and dig in.

"I like this one." Genemon says boldly, "She's got a good appetite on her!" I stop eating. "Unlike Genichi's wife, Nagomi, she doesn't eat hardly at all." I stare at Sanada, a brother? That's married? What more don't I know about Sanada?

"Stop Genemon-Oji-san." Genjirou states, "You're scaring the poor girl."

Genemon slaps me on the back and grins, "Sorry dear. A good appetite is a good thing! Eat up, don't be shy." I let out an awkward laugh and continue to eat.

"Don't mind my father-in-law." Haruko says gently, "You eat as much or as little as you want Kokawa."

"Ah, thanks." I nod my head.

After supper Sanada brings me back to his room since they eat supper quite early. He sits on his bed and starts to read and I find a quiz show on his TV. "You can sit down on my bed, I know it's more comfortable than that chair." Sanada says idly as I answer a question correctly. For a second I debate over sitting on the chair, I agree and crawl onto the bed beside Sanada, he's right his bed is comfortable. It's poofy. I let myself relax as I answer stupid questions.

"Ready to go home?" Sanada asks when the show turns into one of those stupid obstacle course shows.

"Yea." I say without moving, I'm too intent on some former sumo player try and hop across lily pad like structures. _Splash!_ He didn't make it. "You'd be good at that show." I point before sliding off the bed.

"I'd never join a show like that." Sanada scoffs and turns the TV off.

"I'm just saying." I shrug and follow him through the house so I can say goodbye to his parents. It's brisk outside and I shiver due to it. It's not supposed to be this cold, not any more, it's summer time.

"Cold?" Sanada asks as we head towards my house.

"No." I lie.

Warm encases me as Sanada drops his tennis jacket over my shoulders. I can't help myself from curling into it. It's so warm. I breath deeply and I can smell what I can only describe as Sanada, that musky, sort of sweaty, manly smell that follows Sanada everywhere. Yukimura usually smells like flowers. Yanagi smells like books. Niou smells like ginger most of the time and Kirihara smells like sugary foods. I wonder what I smell like, I hope it's something good. I'll ask Kiyomi later.

"Kokawa," Sanada says breaking me from my thoughts, "where are you going?"

"Huh?" I turn and realize I walked by my house. "Oh…" I blush, I was so lost in my thoughts. "Thanks for having me over Sanada-San."

"Anytime. Goodbye."

"Bye." I wait for him to disappear before I head inside. Josh was playing a violent video game and I just walk by him to my room. When I open my door I freeze, _thump_, my tennis bag slides off my shoulders as I stare at the mess before me. My window shattered, glass was everywhere. I notice a small rock with something tied around it. Who would do something like this? Defeated I go and get a broom and dust pan and start the delicate work of sweeping up all the glass shards. Once I get most of the glass up I get the vacuum and vacuum the floor. Only once my room is clean do I pick up the rock and look at the note.

"_This is your last warning. Stay away from them._"

I crumple the note. This is just getting ridiculous. I've had enough. I have more important things to worry about it. My attention turns to the open window I now have. With a sigh I saunter downstairs and scribble a note for my dad before sauntering back upstairs. One night won't kill anything. I'll just make sure I have enough blankets to keep warm. Who could be tormenting me so much? Who have I hurt lately? Besides Yamasaki, but I don't think it's her, she's been pretty quite lately. Who could it be?

.-.

A/N: Yup, this is officially a Sanada/OC story. Enjoy. This story is almost finished but I have plans for a sequel and little side stories.


	27. Chapter 27

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

My phone vibrates against my bed but I'm already awake. I've been awake and shivering for the past hour. Why can't morning practice be on Thursdays? I'm awake right now. I crawl out of bed and get ready. Josh is wandering around the kitchen when I head downstairs.

"Morning beautiful!" Josh hands me a bento box with a grin.

"Is that sarcasm?" I mumble.

"No, I'm being honest. You look nice." He's smiling too wide.

"I look like crap." I grunt back. "I always wear my school uniform… and thanks for lunch. Bye." I turn and walk off.

"Your dad's coming home early today, he's going to fix your window. You should tell the cops about this."

"Whatever." I mumble before I shuffle out of the house. Sanada's not there when I exit the house so I wait. Minutes later he jogs up to my side and apologizes for being late. "It's fine." I grump and start to walk to school. I don't expect Sanada to ask me what's wrong but when his deep voice asks, "Is something wrong?" I have to stop and physically think over what he said.

"Yes." I finally admit. "My stalker broke my bedroom window last night to give me some stupid threat and I was up at the crack of dawn because I was cold. I'm still cold! It shouldn't be cold right now." I complain. Sanada opens his tennis bag and hands me his jacket without a word.

"I'll fix your window if you want."

"My dad's going to tonight." I reply as I slide my arms into his jacket. "Thanks."

"Aa."

We walk in silence. "Sorry if I snap at you." I say, "I'm really tired. I haven't slept in two days." Too much going on right now.

"Aa." Is his only response.

I close my eyes and walk, trusting Sanada not to walk me into any mailboxes. When I open my eyes I yawn and move closer to Sanada in hopes he'll warm me up. "Josh says I should tell the police."

"Aa."

"Should I?"

"It's up to you."

"That's not helping. This has been going on for…. Two weeks?" I ask. "It started after Marui-Senpai's birthday party." If I recall correctly. "What should I do?"

"It's up to you."

I huff and fold my arms. Sanada's so indifferent.

"This is for you." Sanada suddenly says, handing me a little white envelope, "My mom told me to give this to you." I look it over, my name is written in nice handwriting. I open it up and smile, it's a simple hand drawn balloon and on the inside is an invitation to Sanada's birthday party Saturday night.

"Sudden huh." I comment.

"The Kanto Tournament is next weekend. Mom decided it'd be better to have the party this weekend." Yea, I'd rather not have at least eight sweaty teenagers running around the house after a long day of tennis matches.

"Tell your mom I'll be there." I tell Sanada as I put the invitation away.

"Aa."

"Who else did she invite?" I ask.

Sanada takes out the envelopes and goes through them. All the regulars on the boy's team. Hisoka, Setsuko, and Tsukiko. No twins, Kiyomi, or Imai. It's not my place to ask why. I yawn hugely and stumble a little. Sanada leads me into the café and gets me a hot chocolate and we head towards school. I should give him back his jacket before anyone sees it. But it's not like people don't see us walk to school together all the time, still wearing his jacket feels like it's on a different level. It's so cold though; no, I unzip the jacket and slide it off my shoulders.

"Thanks Sanada." I tell him as he takes the jacket back.

"Aa."

I say goodbye and jog to the locker rooms where Kiyomi was waiting. She gives me a grin that screams "I saw that little interaction right there between you two and I like it." I roll my eyes at her and nudge her with my hip hoping it'd shut her up.

.-.

When I arrive home from school Mom is sitting at the kitchen counter scratching Juice's head. I can hear Juice purring loudly and contently. Mom smiles up at me, "C'mon dear, we're going out tonight. You're father's fixing your window."

"Oh, ok." I set my things down and follow Mom back outside and into her car. This is a perfect time to find something for Sanada. I've been wondering what to get him all day. The best I've come up with is a new hat. Despite hanging around Sanada so much I know next to nothing about him, the news he had an older brother and sister-in-law shocked me. I close my eyes as mum drives and try and think of what I can buy Sanada.

"What ya thinking about?" Mom asks.

"Hm?"

"You're staring out the window with a distant look in your eyes… you only do that when you're thinking. What's up?"

"My friend's birthday is Saturday and I don't know what to get him."

"What does he like?"

"Ahh." I think hard, "He's really traditional… he always wears this hat… he does kendo and he's into tennis… But I don't want to get him some typical gift like a gift card to a sports store. I want something more personal, ya know?"

"I know what you mean. You just think about it."

"Aa." I close my eyes and think of all the things I could buy, trying to find something that just screamed Sanada. Nothing comes to mind. I groan in frustration and tap my head against the glass trying to think. When we arrive at the mall Mom wanders off leaving me alone. I need to think of something for Sanada. My first thought is to call Yukimura and ask him but he's probably busy with something. I know who to call!

"Hello?"

"Hiyo Kirihara!" I grin as I wander the mall. "I have a question for you."

"Dear God." Kirihara moans.

"What should I get Sanada for his birthday?" I continue as if I never heard him.

"How should I know?"

"You've played tennis with him for what five years now?" I groan.

"Sanada's impossible to read!" Kirihara cries frustrated.

"What do you get him then?"

"A gift card to a sports store." I can picture my curly-haired friend shrugging his shoulders.

"How typical." I roll my eyes, when I do my eyes land upon a perfect gift. "Ah, got it! I know what I'll get him."

"What? Tell me!" Kirihara pleads.

"No way, find your own crappy gift." I mentally stick my tongue out at him.

"Whatever!" Kirihara shouts. I wander into the store and look around. "Don't hang up!"

"Why would I do that?" I ask.

"I dunno, I just figured you'd leave since you found a gift. What is it by the way?"

"Something you wouldn't understand." I smile at a large selection of Trivial Pursuit games. Sanada and I watch stupid quiz shows together, it's something only he'd get. "Hey, are you understanding your English?"

"Yea, you don't need to tutor me anymore."

"Yea, so what? If I stopped tutoring you we both know you're grades would drop again." I pick out the original game and continue to wander the store.

"That's not true!" Kirihara retorted. I laugh. I've admitted it before and I'll say it again, I really do like Kirihara, but after spending so much time with him I can't picture him as anything more than my best friend. I should probably tell him that since we haven't touched on the topic of what we think about each other… especially since he kissed me. My face heats up with just the memory of his lips on mine. "Amaya!"

"What!" I jump.

"Jeez," Kirihara complains, "you space out worse than Niou-Senpai when he's planning a prank!"

"Sorry." I say sarcastically. "Hey, why don't you come over Saturday morning? Before we go to Sanada's, I mean."

"Sure." Kirirhara says without complaint. We both turn quiet and I wonder if we're both thinking the same thing. Oh man, how am I supposed to let Kirihara down gently? He's like a cute bunny you can't help but coo and coddle. I'll fight that bullet when it comes.

"Hey, I'm gonna pay, I'll call you back in a second." I hang up without a response, I hate it when people are on the phone and try to check out at the same time. I buy my Trivial Pursuit game and a little dream catcher with a hand carved wolf dangling among the black and grey feathers. Perfect.

Once I'm all paid for I call Kirihara back, "You hung up on me! Bitch."

I scoff as I head out of the game store, "Yea, I'm the biggest bitch there ever was Kirihara." I roll my eyes and start to wander the mall, I have no other purpose to be here. "Hey, are any other birthdays I should be aware of?"

"September 25th."

"I'm talking soon."

"Yanagi-Senpai's birthday is on June 4th."

"Alright, I'll buy something for him too." I look around for something for Yanagi.

"_A-p-p-o-i-n-t-m-e-n-t._" Kirihara says randomly.

"_Appointment._" I tell him.

"_Appointment_." He repeats as I head into a book store. My feet carry me through isles searching for something for Yanagi and since I don't know what books Yanagi has or doesn't have I'm at a loss. Suddenly my eyes drift across familiar books and I pick out a new favorite Divergent, from there I find a collection of Hans Anderson fairytales and head to check out. I love fairytales and Divergent is such a good book.

"Hold on a sec." I tell Kirihara in the middle of his rant over Super Smash Bros. When I finished paying and called Kirihara back he let the phone ring for quite some time before he finally picked up without a word. "Don't be grouchy." I tell him after a minute of silence.

"You hung up on me… _again_."

"Sorry." I shrug and settle on a bench in the middle of the mall, Mom will eventually find me. "It's just a pet peeve of mine."

"Whatever."

"Whatever." I repeat.

"You're so lame." Kirihara complains.

"Then why are you friends with me?" I won't deny the fact I'm lame, I know I have my moments.

Kirihara stops and thinks before he says, "I have to go, supper time. Bye."

"Bye." I say a little surprised at his suddenness but let it go. With a text to my mom I find her in a high end department store sniffing various perfumes and colognes. Without warning she stuffs a bottle under my nose and I take a tentative whiff. It smells good, like a man should smell like; musky, warm, with a little spice. I can't stop myself from humming my contentment. Mom smiles and picks up an unopened bottle of the cologne and pays, then we both leave. Why did Mom buy that bottle of cologne? What is she planning to do? Sometimes Mom scares me more than Niou.

.-.

A/N: Today I got my school laptop, this means that as soon as this story is finished (since I'm writing on my personal laptop) I'll be able to start the squeal and side stories ASAP. Hurray. I'm hoping to finish this story this weekend, if all goes well.


	28. Chapter 28

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

Saturday morning the entire family plus Josh and Kirihara have a large breakfast together. Saying breakfast was awkward would be a major understatement. Kirihara doesn't like Josh and I don't think Josh likes Kirihara. After breakfast Mom hands me the wrapped presents for Sanada. They're pretty with shiny silver and black striped wrapping paper with a white bow. I thank Mom and Kirihara and I say goodbye. It's early but Sanada's Mom called last night to tell me I could come over any time I wanted to. Kirihara and I head outside into the humid air and I sigh.

"Hey, Kokawa." Kirihara speaks before I can.

"Yea?"

"If I were to give you news right now that could make you depressed would you be depressed all day?"

"That's incredibly vague." I mutter as I fiddle with the hair elastic I have wrapped around my wrist. "And you can't say something vague like that and not say what you wanted to say. Plus I highly doubt I'll get depressed." Lie, but I have an idea that Kirihara is talking about what I'm talking about.

"Oh… ok… well…" Kirihara scratches the back of his head awkwardly and we sit on a bench on the sidewalk, we're early and I'd rather get this conversation done with now. "I like you Kokawa… and I know you know it." He blushes and I do too. "But… I think it's better if we just… stay friends you know?" He stares at me trying to gauge my reaction. "So?" He asks tentatively after a moment of silence.

"I feel the same way actually." I shrug and smile. "I like you as my best friend." I can't help myself from hugging him. "We can be nerd buddies."

"I have enough of those." Kirihara says as he hugs me back.

"I doubt they're girls." I smirk letting him go.

"True." He stops and his shoulders relax and he exhales deeply, "I'm so happy you feel the same way Kokawa. I got so worried about how you'd react." That makes me feel a tad guilty for just deciding and moving on without a thought but I was going to tell him.

"Let's go!" I jump to my feet and pull Kirihara to his feet. The walk is short and lighthearted, we talk about Pokemon the whole walk. I miss talking about Pokemon to people, Kiyomi isn't a Pokenerd and I can't picture Sanada being a nerd.

I knock on the Sanada residence's door and wait. Kirihara seems almost meek beside me, I know he idolizes Sanada to some effect but fears him too, and family is on a whole other level. "Don't worry they love me." I smile just as the door opens revealing an incredibly tall, black haired man that wasn't anyone I've met before.

"And you are?" He asks in a deep voice similar to Sanada's.

"Ah, hi." I chuckle nervously.

"Kokawa-Chan!" Haruko ran past the man and hugged me tightly. "Oh! Kirihara-Kun!" And she pulls him into a hug too. "Genichi, meet Kokawa Amaya… and you remember Kirihara Akaya? The boy hasn't changed at all since junior high." Haruko ushers us into the house. "Gen-Chan! Gen-Chan! Kokawa-Chan is here!" Kirihara snickers at the big, bad Sanada-Fukubuchou getting called Gen-Chan.

"So you're Kokawa." Genichi leans on a wall scrutinizing me. He looks just like Sanada only a little taller with sharper eyes. "I figured you to be a little taller and not so curvy." Is that a compliment? "Plus I figured you'd be just as boring and uptight as Gen-_Chan_." Genichi smirks at his little brother when he finally makes his appearance.

Kirihara bows instantly, "Good morning Fukubuchou."

"Kirihara, don't address me so formally today." Sanada demands.

"Happy early birthday!" I toss my hands into the air and give him a wide smile. Sanada shakes his head and takes the presents from me and the card Kirihara has and leads us into the living room. There's a preteen boy with short spiky black hair playing Super Mario Galaxy on a Wii. Kirihara's eyes grow wide as saucers, the kid is pretty good.

"Hey, Sasuke." Sanada taps the boy's shoulder who turns around. "Introduce yourself." The boy jumps to his feet, his eyes are a bright shade of blue.

"Hi! I'm Sanada Sasuke." He's a ball of energy.

"Hi." I bend to his level, "I'm Kokawa Amaya. How old are you?"

"Ten." He folds his arms and looks incredibly proud of himself.

"Ten years old? Honestly? Man, you look at least 13." His pride inflates and he goes back to his game asking if I wanted to watch him play. So I curl up on the floor next to the boy and watch him play Mario. Kirihara and Sanada settle on the couch behind us.

"Sasuke!" A sweet voice calls out.

"Yes Mom?" Sasuke calls back, he pauses the game and listens but hears nothing. "Be right back, don't touch the game…. Please." He adds the please as an afterthought before running off. I turn to Sanada and Kirihara and crawl onto the couch between them.

"I'm too old to sit on the floor." I complain.

"You're not old." Kirihara states at the same time Sanada says, "You're the one who decided to sit on the floor."

I ignore them both and relax into the warm couch. Neither move despite the fact I'm wedged between them. I'm so comfortable right now. "Gen-Chan! Renji's here!" And just like that Yanagi walks into the room and perches on a chair. "Happy birthday Genichirou."

"Aa, thank you Renji." Sanada nods his head. Even on his birthday Sanada isn't very talkative.

"Do you guys want anything?" Haruko asks popping her head into the living room. We say no and she leaves. I trail after her into the kitchen, "Kokawa-Chan are you sure you're ok?" She touches the bruise that's now a bright purple on my forehead. It smarts but I've been able to deal with it.

"I'm fine." I tell her, "I have an odd question for you."

"Oh ask away."

"Was Sanada-San always so stoic? I mean, even as a child was he so…"

Haruko laughs and stirs a pot of ramen noodles. "Genichiro has always been so stoic, even as a child. When he turned oh, I'd say about seven he just turned incredibly mature. I still have pictures of him when he was still a baby," Haruko smiles, "he was so cute. He has always been curious and when he was a child he certainly got into his fair share of messes." I giggle at the thought of a baby Sanada running around causing havoc. "Oh come with me!" Haruko grabs my hand and pulls me down the hallway into her bedroom.

I wait in the doorway not wanting to intrude but my eyes voraciously scan the room. It's large but simply decorated, it seems to suit Haruko and Genijirou. Haruko digs out a book and plops onto the bed and pats the spot next to her. I perch on the edge and watch her open the book up. It's a photo album full of pictures of baby Sanada and Genichi. We coo and aw and giggle over the adorable pictures. Sanada was a cute baby with a wide round face and eyes as large as Kirihara's.

"Mother!" A voice yelps and we both look up to see Sanada standing in the doorway, his eyes narrowed but there's a flush on his face.

"Aww my baby's all grown up!" Haruko jumps to her feet and hugs her son despite he's easily a foot taller than her. Sanada tugs his hat lower on his face.

"Mother stop." Sanada complains and I can't stop myself from smiling, Sanada's just like a normal teenager around his mother. Haruko steps back and dramatically sniffs and pretends to wipe at a tear before walking down the hall. Sanada looks at me and I give him a gentle smile before looking back at a picture of Sanada from his first year at junior high. It was the Rikkaidai team with their first National win thanks to Yukimura, Yanagi, and Sanada. "Seiichi's here." Sanada says and I can feel he's trying to get me to leave.

"When was this taken?" I ask pointing a picture of Sanada leaning against a tree, looking off in the distance. Sanada walks over and peers down at the picture.

"My third year of junior high." Sanada explains.

"I like it." I admit. It's a nice picture of him, he's not paying attention and looks relaxed and calm as he stares off into the distance. Sanada says nothing but heads to the door silently telling me it's time to go. I stand and follow after him, the image of Sanada staring off into the distance so relaxed is burned in my mind.

"Kokawa!" Yukimura hugs me tightly, pulling me face first into the couch. I laugh and try to push against the couch to stand up but Yukimura's grip was too tight. Yukimura twists and I tumble into the seat beside him, kicking Kirihara as I do so. Only then does my blue-haired friend let me go.

.-.

Sanada's party is like Marui's in the fact we're all playing video games and being nerds. Sanada doesn't seem to care but I make an extra point to sit at his side when karaoke starts up. "Hey Sanada-San," I say when Marui attempts to hit an incredibly high note, "you never taught me how to punch."

"Aa." Sanada replies before he cringes at Marui's and Tsukiko's singing.

"C'mon." I grab his hand, sensing his distress and pulling him off to the dojo. "You need a break anyways. If you don't want them singing you don't have to deal with it, it's your party." I tell him as I kneel on the dojo floor.

"Why'd you bring me here?" Sanada asked as he kneeled beside me.

"Because you always seem calmer when you're here… and you gotta teach me how to punch." I turn and punch him again in the arm, my hand throbs and adds more evidence to my theory Sanada is made of stone.

"Stand." Sanada gets to his feet smoothly while I scramble to mine. "You're not in the right clothes for this." He looks over my outfit, I thought I looked cute in my skinny jeans and v-neck tank top that clung to my skin with a little white cardigan over it. I roll my eyes at him and take off the cardigan and drop it to the ground. I stand with my hands up ready to punch. Sanada rolls his eyes and moves to adjust my hands. "Feet shoulder width apart." I do as commanded and let Sanada move my hands and shoulders however he wants. At the last minute he twists my hips and I jump a little, we both pull back embarrassed. "Try again." Sanada says, tugging at his hat brim.

I stand how Sanada showed me and he nods and starts to explain a simple punch and block. I punch against his hand and he nods his head, I guess that's a good sign. We talk and I feel so comfortable around Sanada and I almost forget his party is going on.

"Sanada!" We turn and see the mass of people standing there, all the boy's regulars and all the girl's regulars (surprisingly Kiyomi, the twins, and Imai too). We stare at each other, Sanada's got his hands wrapped around my wrists showing me how to punch and we just stand there. Kiyomi eventually snickers and eventually they're all laughing.

"Tarundoru!" Sanada yells as I race forward, chasing after Kiyomi. She shrieks and runs down the hall. I tackle her and we both trip over the couch in a pile of giggles.

"Cat fight!" Niou and Marui are at our sides cheering us on. Kiyomi and I glance at each other, a silent connection, before we pounce on the two boys. I sit on Niou's chest and smile down at him, "Is Niou-Senpai ticklish?"

"You wouldn't dare." Niou narrows his aqua eyes. I smile sweetly before tickling his armpits, no response. Sides, no response. Niou smirks and I smirk back and run my finger across the nape of his neck, he twitches and I launch my attack. He dropped his guard so when I tickle his sides he can't stop from laughing. "Ah-hahaha! S-stop!"

"Niou-Senpai's ticklish!" I grin.

"S-stop!" Niou giggles like a girl.

.-.

Cake soon followed. Kirihara told me I needed to bake a cake for all of us on Monday since my cake is so good. Then it's present time, at Marui's party it only felt natural to have a present time because he's so childish, but with Sanada it just feels different. Like he's an adult but it doesn't feel that weird. Most people got him gift cards to various places. Yanagi bought him a new chess set making me wonder if Sanada plays chess. Yukimura bought him a series of books. Then it's my presents, Sanada glances at one and sets it aside, only I notice because I'm the only one really paying attention at the moment. I want to watch his reaction. He peels back the paper methodically but not slowly. Sanada smirks at the game and Kirihara looks from me to him and back again.

"You bought him a board game?" Kirihara sounded confused.

"You wouldn't understand." I smile at Sanada who shakes his head and holds up the dream catcher.

"Thanks Kokawa."

"You're welcome Sanada-San." I smile.

The party turns more and more like Marui's party after that. We all play video games, watch movies and act like teenagers. Niou glares at me and tickles my side every chance he gets. It's pay back and he says he finds it funny when I squeak. I smack his arm every time he does.

.-.

It's really late and I realize I'm still sprawled out across Yukimura and Yagyuu. All the girls have gone home except me because I live so close. Part of me feels self-conscious but the other part of me is completely at ease. I wiggle my toes and Yagyuu looks up at me and touches my bruise. When I wince he nods his head and looks back to the tv, he's been doing that throughout the evening.

"I've been here all day." I state as I wiggle my toes again.

"Aa." Sanada says and we all grow silent and watch the movie. I drop my head into Yukimura's lap and watch a movie I don't know, I don't even know what's going on. All I know is some dude is running around killing people for some reason or another. Hm, maybe I can just close my eyes and when the movie's over I'll go home. I close my eyes and let Yukimura run his fingers through my hair and begin to braid it.

.-.

A/N: I hated writing this chapter, this is probably my least favorite chapter of them all. It just dragged on and I tried my best to keep Sanada in character, how'd I do?


	29. Chapter 29

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

I open my eyes and I feel incredibly warm and comfortable. This is the first time in a while I've slept this well. With a content murmur I snuggle deeper into my pillow and try to drift back to sleep. My feet twist and slide under the blanket searching for a cool spot when I touch something incredibly warm. Instantly I sit up, it's not a cat because cats are fluffy and this was soft. Kirihara snorts in his sleep and rolls onto his other hip. I blink. Kirihara? I'm awake in a snap and I search around, I'm definitely not in my room but the room I'm in is familiar. Sanada's room. Oh crap.

I fell asleep at Sanada's house. Kirihara and I are on a futon, separate blankets; Niou and Marui are beside the futon, attempting to share a small mattress, they're just a tangle of limbs fighting for dominance. Jackal is asleep in Sanada's computer chair, his feet propped onto the desk and he's leaned back precariously. Yagyuu is asleep beside Yanagi on a large mattress and Yukimura and Sanada share his bed. All together it's an odd sight for me, solely because it's guys and I'm used to girls doing this at sleepovers.

The sun's still low in the sky and I'm still tired so I flop back onto the futon. Kirihara mutters something and rolls onto his other side and opens his eyes. We stare at each other for a little while before he smiles sleepily. "Hi." He whispers.

"Hi." I whisper back with a smile.

"Go back to sleep."

"Hm." I close my eyes and Kirihara shuffles closer and puts his arms around me. I accept his movement, he's really warm, and put my head under his chin and fall back to sleep.

.-.

"Aww, look at our babies…" Marui's soft coo wakes me up but I keep my eyes closed. Kirihara's breath is warm, drifting around my neck, he's still asleep.

"Aww." Niou coos too. My body heat rises, I feel so incredibly awkward. Kirihara mumbles and pulls me closer, that's when I call it quits and make a squeak and start to yawn. "Morning beautiful." Niou grins down at me. Pulling Kirihara's arms from around me I sit up and stare at the rest of the regulars. Niou and Marui have sadistic grins on their faces, Yukimura's smiling, Yanagi's writing in his notebook… then I find Sanada, standing in the doorway arms crossed and a deep wrinkle in his forehead from his scrunched up eyebrows and glare.

I shake Kirihara's shoulder until he wakes up and we stare at each other before he blushes deeply and rolls away. Marui ruffles Kirihara's hair and Kirihara yells at him and runs off into the bathroom. Niou drops onto the edge of the couch grinning from ear to ear. I smack the back of his head, "You leave Kirihara alone. Why do ya'll pick on him so much?"

"Because he's so easy to rile up and it's funny."

"Nice hair kiddo." Marui leans over and ruffles my hair up. I swat at his hand and attempt to smooth out my hair. Yanagi and Yagyuu sit on either side of me and they prod at my head and watch my reactions. Then Yagyuu hands me a glass of water as Yanagi hands me a small pill. Kirihara saunters back into the room, around Sanada who's still glaring, and flops onto Sanada's bed. Since I know the bathroom is empty I head out and stare at myself in the mirror.

My red hair is a tangled mess, I'm flushed from embarrassment, and my makeup from last night is smeared, not to mention my bruise is actually a pretty shade of purple. I'm a mess. With a groan and attempt to clean myself up. Wiping makeup off and using a stray hairbrush to brush my hair back into straightness. While I brush my hair in a rhythmic pattern all I can see is Sanada glaring at Kirihara and I. My heart squeezes and I think I'll be sick. Once my hair is hanging limp at my shoulders I head back to Sanada's room where they've broken out Sanada's new Trivial Pursuit game.

"Let's break into teams!" Kirihara yells.

"There's too many people for that idiot." Marui smacks the back of the curly haired boy's head who instantly pouted. Marui snapped a bubble and glanced around at us, "Guess there could be a team of three." He shrugs. "Jackal, wanna be my partner?"

"Do I have a choice?" Jackal retorted.

"Do you ever?" Marui replied with a smile.

"Guess we know who wears the pants in your relationship." Niou snickered.

"Hey, at least it's obvious to tell." Jackal smirked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Niou asked.

"Who wears the pants in your relationship with Yagyuu?" Jackal asked.

"Yagyuu." Marui said.

"Yagyuu." Kirihara said.

"Me." Yagyuu said.

"Me!" Niou shouted. "And I am not in a relationship with Yagyuu! I'm perfectly straight."

"That's what they all say." I relax back into the wall and watch them bicker.

"Denial." Yukimura nodded his head surely.

"I'm not gay." Niou glared at the game.

We break into teams. Marui-Jackal, Niou-Yagyuu, Kirihara-Yanagi, and Yukimura-Sanada-myself. My pride and confidence inflates, we'll win. Our only real competition is Yanagi. The game kicks up instantly, competition swells to an all time high. My team does really well we win by one point.

"Yeaaaa!" I cry tossing my fists into the air in victory.

"Ah! No fair!" Kirihara yells, thanks to Yanagi they got second place.

"Congratulations." Yagyuu says politely, they got third place. Niou, surprisingly, knew a lot of random facts.

"Whatever." Marui folds his arms frustrated he and Jackal got last place, it's not like they weren't smart they just weren't as smart as Yagyuu, Yanagi, Yukimura and Sanada. (And myself if I'm feeling self-centered). We all bicker down to the kitchen where Haruko and Nagomi are cooking breakfast. I like Nagomi, she's got medium length light brown hair, brown eyes, and she's incredibly nice.

"Good morning boys." Haruko greets us and then she spots me. "Good morning Kokawa, I didn't know you spent the night."

I laugh awkwardly as I settle in a seat between Yukimura and Sanada. "Yea, I fell asleep on Yukimura I guess." Said person reaches over and digs through my hair. "I took out the braid." I inform him, flattening my hair back down. We all ate breakfast and people left in waves until it's just me, Sanada, Yukimura, and Yanagi. We relax in the living room watching a history show. I'm not particularly interested in the show but I like hanging out with the three demons. Nobody says much and I don't mind. I relax onto Sanada's shoulder and finally drift back to sleep.

.-.

"Kokawa." A voice murmurs my name and I grumble and open my eyes. Sanada stares down at me, I fell asleep again. I sit up from the couch and he sits next to me. "You fell asleep again."

"Aa." I murmur. Sanada then takes out the little present from earlier. It's one of mine from the silver wrapping. He shows me a piece of paper that says "_Open this later when people aren't around. ~Mother Eri_." My heart stops. What the hell did my mom do? Sanada opens the package and it's the bottle of cologne Mom bought. "Oh she didn't." I moan.

"What?" Sanada asks.

"N-nothing." I stutter as Sanada opens the bottle and takes a whiff.

"Do you know why your mother got this for me? I don't wear cologne."

"Ah, I don't now." I lie and look back to the TV. Sanada holds the bottle under my nose and I breath deeply loving the warm, musky, spicy scent. "Hmmm." Oh crap, bad move, now Sanada knows the reason… crap, crap, crap. Mom I'm going to kill you later. Sanada sets the bottle away and I relax again. We fall silent watching the TV show and I feel something gnawing inside me.

"Hey, Sanada."

"Aa?"

"Kirihara's just my friend… you know that right?"

"Aa." Sanada says and I can't tell if he knew or if he's worried or what. I try to look at him but even his brown eyes are stoic. Frustrated I punch his arm, he glances at me but says nothing more.

"Ugh, you're so stoic Sanada!" I complain, bopping my forehead against his shoulder. He says nothing. "Sanada." I whine.

"What?" He asks calmly.

"Either show some emotion or tell me what's on your mind." I tell him. "Since I'm sadly not a mind reader. I wish I was, but only if I could control it… eugh I'd hate to read people's mind all the time… especially in high school." I shudder at all the nasty thoughts I'd get. "Oh, sorry, I digress."

"Aa." Sanada pauses. "I know you and Akaya are just friends."

"Good, because we are… we actually just talked about it… guess we still l-" I stop dead in my tracks, I don't need to tell Sanada I still like Kirihara. "Anyways…" I laugh nervously, "I suppose I should go home right?"

"Only if you want to."

"It's your house." I tell him. "Do you want me to leave?"

Sanada's silent for a second, "No."

"Then I'll stay." I curl back into the couch.

.-.

I stay at Sanada's all day. Not like I care, his family adores me and they're nice and it's not like I want to go home at the moment. My family isn't fun and is never around… not to mention Josh and the fact I don't know how to feel about him. Sanada walks me home just after supper. We shuffle side by side without saying anything. I sigh and wish I knew how to talk to Sanada about my feelings or could read his.

My shoes scuff against the concrete as we walk. My mind whirls at how I can get Sanada's attention and understand him better. Nothing I can think of will work with Sanada, he's so emotionless and I'm not the type of girl to make the first move. Sanada please tell me if my feelings are valid or not! Please! Please! Please!

"Kokawa." Sanada says as we near my house.

"Aa?"

"Tuesday would you like to go out to get something to eat with me?" He asks.

"I'd love to." I tell him honestly.

"Aa, after practice?" I nod my head and he does the same. "See you tomorrow Kokawa."

"Bye." I give a light wave before heading inside. Josh peeks at me from the living room, a wide grin on his face.

"You stayed at that boy's house for two straight days."

"Congratulations you can actually observe the world around you." I say sarcastically.

Josh rolls his eyes, "Your mom freaked out." I flop into the couch beside him, he's got a violent movie on but I look past the fake blood and guts. "I calmed her down though."

"Thanks." I tell him.

"Anytime."

"Hm."

"I noticed you have a guitar but never play it."

"Because I can't." I say.

"Why not?"

"I just can't. Music is the one thing I suck at… thankfully my music teacher is teaching me how to sing." I shrug, Sensei said I had a nice voice and was happy to work with me. Josh stands and grabs my acoustic guitar from its forever spot in the corner and presses it into my hands. He moves my fingers across the strings and forces my right hand to strum the guitar.

"I can teach you." Josh says.

"Doubt it." I roll my eyes.

"Give me a week and if you can't play "Smoke on the Water", at least a little of it, I'll never mention it again."

"Fine." I roll my eyes again.

"You'll give yourself a headache if you keep rolling your eyes."

"I already have a headache, numb skull." I point to my forehead.

Josh ignores me and sets to work teaching me simple chords before running upstairs to get his own guitar to show me how to play. For hours we sit there and practice and play, I even order a pizza because I'm too tired to cook. Even when I lay my head down for bed my fingers are still twitching.

.-.

"_Listen up ya'll cuz this is it._" I dive for my phone before it can continue playing. Too late, the song was already playing in my head. Ugh. I find myself dancing and shimmying in the bathroom while I applied a light layer of makeup to my face (attacking my bruise with foundation hoping to cover it up without much success).

Josh hands me a lunch and scruffles up my hair before leading me to the door. "Have a good day."

"Yes mother." I huff before heading outside. Sanada and Yanagi are waiting for me. "Good morning. Yanagi-Senpai, can I practice today?" I ask.

"Do you feel dizzy? Does your head hurt?" Yanagi prods at my bruise as we walk.

"No." I shake my head and stifle a yawn.

"Don't do anything strenuous." Yanagi stated, "Keep yourself hydrated and if you get an excruciating headache take a break and drink water."

"I can do that." I nod.

"I'm 80% sure Yukimura will be upping our practice." Yanagi calculated. That didn't sound good. I bite my lip and wonder if Buchou will make us work harder too.

.-.

A/N: I couldn't resist a little Kirihara/OC-ness. And I couldn't resist poking fun at Niou but I still love him.


	30. Chapter 30

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

Thank God for my head injury. I think as I settle onto a bench and watch Buchou yell orders at people. Setsuko was nowhere to be seen and I wonder if it's because she's so incredibly nice and Buchou is screaming at all of us.

"Faster!" She yells at Madoka who was trying to serve as many balls as she could over the net and into a basket. She's been yelling at us all practice and when Setsuko finally arrives to end practice everyone runs to the locker rooms. I change quickly and head outside with Kiyomi. We talk about our math homework until we reach homeroom.

My head pounds in my head and I make sure to drink plenty of water. Only flaw is water equals the need to go potty. During a break between classes I race down the halls and into the nearest bathroom to pee. Instantly my feet freeze to the floor and a pair of fake blue eyes meet mine.

"Kokawa." She hisses.

"Y-… Y-Yamasaki?" I ask tentatively.

"Yes. That damn ass-hole Niou colored my hair." She flips her hair over her shoulders and instead of blond her hair is a neon orange color. She slides by me, "Don't worry Kokawa, I won't bother you anymore." Suddenly she yanks my hair back and I hear a snip. Before I can react she's gone and I race to the mirror to look at my hair, at the back of my head she took a nice chunk of hair out. Tears prick at my eyes but I hold them back and pull my hair up into a ponytail to hide the mess.

.-.

When school is out I run into the locker room and take out a pair of scissors from one of the lockers. Just when I get ready to cut Buchou steps into the room and her glare freezes all movements. "Go home and get your hair fixed by a professional. I expect you to practice tonight and give it your all."

"Yes Buchou." I nod my head and yank my hair back into a pony before heading home completely defeated. Thankfully Mom's home, she's appalled and takes me out to get my hair cut. Mom tells me I should press charges or tell someone but I just sit and let the hairdresser save as much of my hair as she could.

By the end of it my hair is just barely longer than my chin with a lot of layers in the back to hide the missing hunk. It doesn't look bad but I'm so used to my hair reaching my shoulders I feel too light. All the way home I'm running my hands through my hair. Yamasaki is such a bitch, I should tell Niou so he can dye her hair puke green. I wonder if anyone will notice the haircut and ask why I got it. I don't think I'll be able to tell them the truth. Instead I decide I'll just wait and see what happens instead of over thinking it like I always do.

Mom leaves me to my own devices when I get home and I stay true to my promise to Buchou and go out for a jog. My feet hitting the ground rhythmically. I keep my own pace so my head doesn't hurt as bad. Outside my house I stretch and lunge and practice swings. After an hour I get the incredible feeling like I'm being watched but I'm not done practicing and I won't let my superstitions get the better of me. I practice swinging and running in the driveway for another few minutes before Josh saunters out of the house and leans against the wall to watch me.

"Mom wanted me to bring you this." He tosses me a water bottle that I drink from greedily. I toss it back and go back to sidestepping as fast as I can. Josh watches me silently and for some reason I don't seem to mind, it's reassuring to have a strong man around to fend off the evils. Suddenly Josh runs by me and I turn to see him following someone. I run too, it's the stalker! Josh tackles the person to the ground and gets ready to punch whoever it is.

"Don't!" I yell running up to Josh.

"Have you been tormenting us?" Josh yells at the person, threatening to punch him. That's when I get a good look on the person.

"Aki-San?" I ask looking down at the Rikkai third year.

The brunette spits up at us and Josh punches him in the jaw. "Yea, it's me. Stupid slut." Josh punches him again in the other jaw.

"Why?" I ask.

"Because!" Aki yells, "Isn't it obvious?"

"Y-… you love them." I state.

Aki nods solemnly, "I've fought for years to get their attention but nothing I did worked… and then… and then you just show up and have everyone wrapped around your finger. It's not fair! It's not fair! It's not fair!" Aki starts to thrash around but Josh has him pinned and promptly punches Aki into submission. "You're a slut! A whore! You're a dirty, filthy whore! Not worthy of their affections!" Aki screams insults at me while Josh punches him.

"Amaya is not a whore! She is a nice, sweet, honest person!" Josh screams back.

"Kokawa? Josh-San? Aki?" Sanada's deep voice pulls us from our fight. We all look up to see Sanada and Yanagi standing there with shocked expressions.

"Genichiro! Renji!" Aki cries out, his face is bloody and puffy and I think Josh knocked out one of his teeth.

"You're off the team." Sanada says without a blink. "You've interfered with one too many lives and have shown inappropriate behavior that we do not tolerate in the Rikkai Tennis Team. There for as Co-Captain I am forced to remove you from the team." Sanada's deep voice is full of authority and Aki's eyes get teary.

"No! Genichiro! Please! Please listen to me." Josh stand up and Aki crawls over to cling onto Sanada's feet. "I didn't mean to harm anyone! Please you have to understand… I love you! I love you so much!" Aki rubs his face into Sanada's leg. The whole scene is awkward and uncomfortable. Yanagi is scrawling happily in his notebook probably content with the new data.

"No." Sanada's voice shakes me right through my bones. "Get up Aki." Aki scrambles to his feet, wanting to make a good impression on Sanada. "You're removed from the tennis team and if you are found within a hundred feet of Kokawa I _will personally_ make you wish you never even looked at any of us." Sanada's eyes narrow to a frightening squint and Aki runs away, crying. Yanagi comes to me and pokes my head. "Are you alright?" Sanada asks.

"I'm fine." I murmur.

"I'm surprised it was Aki." Yanagi said, "His probability of being the stalker was only 20%… mhmm, clearly my calculations were wrong. I apologize Kokawa-San, I should have looked deeper into the situation."

"It's fine. He didn't hurt me." At least not physically.

"Aa. I'm glad." Sanada said.

"You've done something with your hair." Yanagi states, his nimble fingers running through my short hair.

"Yea, she chopped it off since some girl at school took a hunk of it out." Josh smirks and I elbow him in the ribs. "What it's the truth?"

"Was it Yamasaki?" Sanada asks, serious as always.

I nod numbly. "But don't worry! She's going to leave me alone now."

"After Masaharu turned her hair orange I figured she'd leave you alone forever." Yanagi said. "Hmm, none of my calculations involving you have been correct. You're a variable I clearly can't calculate for." Yanagi goes back to his notebook. "Though there is one thing I can calculate accurately…" Before any of us can ask what I trip and stumble forward. Both Josh and Sanada reach for me, grabbing my arms, and hoist me back to my feet before I can hit the concrete.

"Be careful, klutz." Josh teased.

"Aa." Sanada agreed.

We walk silently until we reach my house. "Kokawa," Yanagi says, "may I have a word with you?"

"Aa." I nod my head and say goodbye to Sanada who walks off. Josh shuffles into the house, he seems quite proud of the fact he beat up some little kid today. "What's up Yanagi-Senpai?"

"I'm 99% sure you're in love with Sanada." Instantly a flush and Yanagi nods his head knowingly. "I do wish to confide in you." When I tentatively nod he continues, "I think you deserve to know Sanada is rather… dense when it comes to relationship and things of that nature. My data tells me that if you two wish to date you will be the one to ask him. There's only a 40% chance he'll ask… seeing as he's so dense."

"But… he's asked me out to diner Tuesday." I say.

Yanagi doesn't respond but his voice shows interest, "Really? That is surprising. Sanada might be coming out of his shell thanks to you Kokawa. I wish you the best of luck and remember my data." He runs a finger over my bruise. "Feel better soon." And then he walks off.

I knew Sanada was a stoic but I wouldn't have called him dense, especially when it came to relationships. He just deals with it differently than I do. Wait does that mean he likes me too? Ah, why can't he be like Niou and just come out and tell me if he likes me or not? Frustrated I stomp inside and play angry music on Guitar Hero to calm my mind. Josh joins in and together we jam out to hard rock until Josh tells me it's time for practice.

.-.

My mind whirls that night. Trying to see if I had the courage to ask Sanada out. But I'm old school. I think it's sweet when the girl asks the boy out but I like Sanada a lot. Oh dear, our date is tomorrow. Must get sleep. Must get sleep. I think I manage to close my eyes and get a few hours of sleep before my cell phone is ringing. "_Cause I saddle up my horse and I ride into the city. I make a lot of noise Cause the girls They are so pretty. Riding up and down Broadway on my old stud Leroy And the girls say Save a horse, ride a cowboy_." I get out of bed and get ready for the day, my stomach all fluttery with nervous.

Sanada's waiting at the end of my driveway watching the sky. I wander to his side and my eyes widen with realization. "Happy Birthday Sanada!" I can't help myself and hug him tightly around the waist. Oh my goodness he smells amazing; warm, musty and spicy… exactly like the perfume Mom bought for him. He used it! He's wearing it! I pull away blushing.

"Aa, thanks." Sanada says quietly.

"You're welcome."

We walk in silence and I can feel my heart go pitter-pat inside my chest. What's going to happen tonight? Where are we going? It is his birthday after all. Does that mean I should pay? But he's the one who asked me out.

"Kokawa." Sanada snaps me from my thoughts.

"Ahn?" I ask.

He looks behind me and I turn to see the café. I shake my head and we keep walking. He spends too much money on me. I need to run tonight, I'm in horrible condition for the tournament. Kiyomi and I are clearly the weakest link on the team.

"Are you ready for the tournament?" I ask.

"Aa." Sanada says, "We're always ready. We'll win straight matches."

"You have a lot of confidence."

"Our team is that good." Sanada deadpans.

"I'm glad you're so confident."

"Aa."

When we arrive at school we say our goodbyes and I head to homeroom thinking about Sanada. He used the cologne. He used the cologne! I squeal inside and prepare myself for the day.

.-.

Augh! Why must everything all fall at once? In two weeks is the school concert and we need to perform something. Easy for the music students but me, since I'm technically in chorus not the band, I need to set aside time to learn the song the chorus class is learning. Why me? I need to practice my tennis. Still I'm going to try my best to learn the songs during my class time.

I sulk out of music class with Kiyomi bouncing beside me. She's excited because she gets a little solo type deal in one of the songs. Her good mood doesn't effect me as I sulk through my classes. In any free time I have I run through the songs I'm just starting to memorize.

.-.

By the time it's lunch I have one song down and I'm singing it as I wander to the hill where Yukimura and Kiyomi are waiting. "I'm so jealous of you." Kiyomi says, "You get to sing. I wish I was in chorus." I shrug and continue to sing.

"_Furitsuzuku ame hitori de miushinatteta. Kitsuke na kereba mada munashisa ni amanjiteita. Kono te wo nobasou furikaeranai de. Kimi no soba ni ita. Soba ni sasete hoshii. Aru ga mama sono mama ikite yukeru nara. Kitto sono te wo totte doko made mo toberu darou. Kimi to nara kanata made aru ga mama de_." I sing gently.

"That's a sweet song." Kiyomi coos.

"Mhmm." I nod my head and think over the next lines.

"Hey, are you gonna practice today?" Kiyomi asks as I start to eat my lunch.

"Aa." I nod my head, "Until my head starts to hurt again, but I promise I've been practicing."

"Good." Kiyomi nods her head.

"Did I tell you, Yukimura-San about the stalker?" I ask.

"Sanada did this morning." The blue haired boy nods his head.

"Surprising it was Aki." Kiyomi flops back on the hill. "He seemed pretty nice."

"He was." Yukimura agreed, "I think we all should have known it was him… he has made some awkward passes before that we all just ignored and looked over. Plus he was always disappearing and was really tired all the time." Yea because he was stalking me every night.

"I'm just glad it's over." I say.

"I bet." Kiyomi smiles up at me. "Hey, next week we should all go out to karaoke. After we win our tournament of course."

"Aa." I agree with Kiyomi, I like it here, there's always something going on here. I'm no longer bored. My life is interesting here and I like that so much.

.-.

A/N: Poor Kokawa-Chan getting her hair chopped off. And I hope I made it pretty easy to see who the stalker was, I never do well with suspense/mystery. And the song (the Japanese one) is the ending of one of my favorite animes "Nabari no Ou" you should go watch (or read) it.


	31. Chapter 31

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

After practice I take a quick shower and make sure I look nice before I head out to find Sanada waiting, fiddling with his hat in his hand. His hair is still wet, clinging to his neck. When he sees me he stands up a little straighter and greets me. I stand beside him and we start to walk.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"You'll see." Sanada says. Is that a smart comment from Sanada? Boy oh boy.

So I follow Sanada down the road, staying close to his side. He's wearing the cologne again, I can smell it. It smells like he usually smells only a little spicier and a little less sweaty. It's pleasing. "You're an old man." I state randomly.

"That's nice to say." Sanada retorts. "Sorry." I laugh, "I didn't mean it like that."

"Aa." We walk until we reach an art museum. Sanada leads me inside and I look around at all the art on the walls. "There's a photography exhibit today and I thought you'd like to see it." So Sanada brings me to something I'd like to see on his actual birthday. It's sweet. As we walk through the museum I find myself drifting closer and closer to Sanada. We stop to look at some abstract painting and I lean against Sanada.

"I see nothing." I grump.

"Me too." Sanada and I twist our heads to look at the bright colors that seem to be splattered against the canvas. I push myself off Sanada and walk away.

"Let's not look at abstract art." I state boldly, "I never see anything in it. I've been told it's because I'm too literal." I shrug my shoulders and stop in front of a beautiful photograph of a water droplet. Sanada stands behind me, closely, his body heat drifting off him. I stand for a minute longer mainly because I like being so close to Sanada.

Then he moves and I trail after him, we walk through the photography exhibit looking at all the photos. What makes the day, beside the beautiful photos, is how close Sanada and I stand. When I didn't stand close to him he made a point to move closer. Sanada is dense? Why is he making advances? Are they advances? Oh dear, I know nothing about dating and relationships.

We walk home side by side, we're at a stale mate, neither of us are going to make a move and I can feel it. My heart hammers inside and I know I won't be able to make the first move. And if Sanada really is dense he won't either. I bite my lip as we walk down the road together.

"Did you have fun today?" Sanada asks.

"A better question is did you?" I peer up at him, "It is your birthday after all."

"Aa. I did."

"Good." I smile. "That's all that matters."

"Did you have fun?" He asks again.

"Aa! Lots." Sanada gives me a small smile and I just about jump him right then but I keep my feet on the ground. My hand accidentally brushes against Sanada's and a shock runs up my body. We both jump away, did he feel the shock too? But we act as if nothing happened and moments later we're side by side again, our hands brushing together occasionally. Each time our skin meets a little shock runs up my arm and I start to shudder with the electrical feeling he gives me.

My house comes into view and I want to run in the other direction to make our day last longer. Sanada walks me up to the door and says goodbye. "Bye, thanks for the date. Happy birthday!" I tell him again and he just gives a little wave and walks away. Fast as a dragonfly I race upstairs and tell Kiyomi and Yukimura and Tsukiko everything instantly, through a combined Facebook message of course. They all coo and Tsukiko says she's going to start a bet on who asks who out. I roll my eyes at that but can't help but wonder who will ask who out too.

.-.

That night I dream of Sanada and I as a couple for the first time. It's a sign my crush has progressed. Sanada and I hold hands through my dream, the tingling sensation goes through my body. But the dream is over all too soon and it's time for morning practice. My black-capped friend is waiting for me and we stay close to each other as we walk and I want to know what he's thinking.

At practice Buchou smacks my arm, and tells me to focus. She's right and I have to shove Sanada from my head and focus on tennis practice. Kiyomi has advanced without me and I'm scrambling to keep up with her new pace. Her net play has increased greatly. What do I have to show for the past week? A bruise on the head and a slow body. Still I'm not going to give up and try my hardest to keep up with her.

School is easy, nothing incredibly hard or confusing happens. Yamasaki is no where to be seen and nobody really notices my hair cut. I'm glad. They just say I look nice or they like my hair if they notice at all. I saunter down to the locker rooms stifling a yawn when I feel someone pop up next to me.

"You hair looks nice." Sanada says.

"Thanks." I tell him as we head outside and just like that we separate and go our own ways. I change as quickly as I could and start running the laps Buchou assigned us. My heart likes the running and tells me I'm doing a good job as I run. Then we're back to practicing with the boys. This time Kiyomi and I go up against Marui and Jackal. It's clear that Marui doesn't have as much stamina as Jackal as we prolong our match as much as possible. Kiyomi and I are back in our swing, we know just how to move with each other. She does well at the net, she's even mastered what we call a Half Volley Lob, where she gets incredibly close to the net and pops the ball up and over hitting the baseline exactly. I stay close to the baseline but we both have good net play still. Chie called both of us Counter-Punchers the other day, we wait for our opponents to make a mistake and call it out. Me more so than Kiyomi, she's leans towards Net Specialist. I could care less about the fancy names all I know is that Kiyomi and I are good partners.

.-.

"Game and match Marui-Jackal. 6-4." Kiyomi and I were breathing a little heavy but nothing compared to Marui who was practically dying while Jackal just sweats a little.

"Marui-Senpai, you need to work on your stamina." Kiyomi panted.

"Whatever." Marui gasped for air as we sauntered off the court.

"Good job ladies." Buchou seemed rather pleased with our attempt.

"Let's go practice with some second years." Kiyomi took my wrist and pulled me off to the girl's court where we played against two second years who were probably going to make the team next year. We practiced and practiced and worked on our Australian Formation until we couldn't move anymore. We flopped onto the court and drank tons of water, my head hurt but I wasn't going to stop now.

"Again!" Kiyomi sat up and shouted suddenly. The two girls groaned but got in position. We played another match, winning straight matches again but the two are good players. With the match done I take a light jog around the field and do extra squats and racket swings. My body feels amazing as I head inside to take a shower after practice.

Outside Marui, Jackal, and Kirihara are standing there waiting. "Hey! Kokawa! Let's go to the arcade!" Kirihara smiles at me. "It'll be fun."

"Ah, sure."

"I wanna come too!" Kiyomi hugs me from behind.

"Oh me too!" Tsukiko says.

"Can I come too?" Imai murmurs.

"Sure!" Maui snaps a bubble, "Jackal's paying."

"What?" Jackal glares.

Niou and Yagyuu stepped out of the locker room and noticed us all. "Where ever we're going I'm going too." Niou said as he draped his arm over my shoulders, "Right Ladybug?"

"Ah, right." I say unsure of myself.

So with that we all run off to the arcade. Jackal and Tsukiko give us all change and everyone runs off to find a game to play. Kiyomi and I find DDR and start to dance together. We hop back and forth on the dance pad. Giggling as we dance like idiots.

"So, how's things going with all your mhmms?" I ask as I hop from spot to spot.

"Oh! I have a date with Momoshiro on Sunday." Kiyomi winks at me. "I think we're going to be going out soon." She jumps and bounces more than necessary. "I think I like him."

"You think?" I laugh, "You've been talking to this boy for what? Months?"

"Try years." Kiyomi replies.

"What?" My jaw drops, "You haven't dated this kid and you've been talking to him for years?"

"We've always been just friends." She shrugs. "We've always dated other people and then we decided to see where a relationship would take us." After that our conversation takes a lull and we focus on dancing, we gain quite the crowd of people watching us. Nerves tingle inside me as people stare at us I push it aside and focus on my feet. We play until we run out of quarters and have to leave, everyone cries and wants us to dance more. Kiyomi and I have to laugh, I think this is the first time I've ever had someone ask me to dance more.

"That was so much fun!" Kiyomi announces as we drape our arms over each others shoulders. "We so need to do that again."

"Definitely." I tell her with a smile hoping this adrenaline high will last me some time.

.-.

My nerves are on high as I head to the tennis courts with Sanada and Yanagi at my side. Today's the Kanto Tournament. I'm nervous and the occasional brushing of my hand with Sanada's wasn't helping either. I bit my lip until I tasted blood but I kept walking. My hand brushed Sanada's and a little electrical tingle flew up my arm, throughout the week we've been making more and more obvious passes at each other. Sanada and I stand incredibly close and our hands brush whenever we walk, yet he hasn't asked me out and I'm not going to ask him out.

I swallow thickly as we walk towards the courts. I shouldn't be playing, my head hurt like hell and I wasn't in any condition to fight. My body started to shake when I thought about playing tennis but then I think about Kiyomi and how disappointed she'll be.

Round One is against Yamabuki. I find the mass of yellow and head to find Kiyomi in the mass of fan girls and fan boys cheering us on already. Kiyomi and I link arms and go warm up together. There's a whole lot more people here today, boys and girls wearing various uniforms and holding large signs promoting different schools and players. In a quiet place Kiyomi and I hit a ball back and forth between us. The Kanto Tournament is going to be drawn out over the next month. A game today, a game next week, a game the week after that, and then finals the week after that. Then there's a break and then it's Nationals… if we make it that far, I have confidence in our team, we'll do fine.

.-.

A/N: Yup, I realized today according to a timeline the Kanto Tournament is in, like, July… and it's currently May… so bear with that time plot issue. Also... THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO'S REVIEWED AND READ AND FAVED AND ALERTED (Ect) THIS STORY! You guys are honestly the reason this story is near completion (I couldn't let you guys down and not continue the story after how much you loved it) So a round of applause to you! -claps-


	32. Chapter 32

If you notice any errors in any chapters please let me know, whether they're grammar, spelling, plot errors, OOC characters. Reviews are always nice too.

Disclaimer: I don't, nor will I ever, own Prince of Tennis or any of it's characters. I also don't own any of the franchises or anything mentioned in this story, Mountain Dew, Facebook, Nintendo, ect.

.-.

The Yamabuki girls wore green mini skirts and a matching tank top with yellow sleeves. Their uniforms were decent. Instead of focusing on the match I focus on odd little details. Kiyomi twirls her racket again and again in her hands looking excited. Our opponents, Fuu and Yuki, look excited too. They win first serve and Yuki bounces a ball a few times before popping it into the air and hitting it dully, it bounces and I return with ease. Instantly I run forward to the net, Kiyomi and I do good when we're at the net.

The ball bounces back and forth, Kiyomi and I refuse to back down. I lose myself into the game and that's all I can think about. The voices of everyone cheering us on turn into a dull hum in the back of my head. All I can think about is winning this match. My feet move automatically and I feel the sweat start to roll down my back as the warm sun beats down on us.

During one break I drink a lot of water and let Buchou prod at my forehead. My bruise is feeling a lot better but still, all this running in the hot sun is starting to give me a headache. I drink as much water as I can before Kiyomi and I head back onto the court.

Yuki has a killer backhand and Fuu has amazing volley skills. We're pushed to our limits but still we don't back down. Our stamina eventually pulls through as Yuki and Fuu start running out of energy. Kiyomi and I slap hands together as we prepare for her last serve. With this we should win the match. Kiyomi tosses the ball into the air and hits it over the net. To both our surprise the ball zips past both of us twice as fast as Kiyomi had hit it. Yuki grins sadistically. They still have energy left. They still have energy left!

"No worries." Kiyomi tells me. "We can do this. Don't push yourself to far." She stares at my forehead that's starting to kill me. I'm reaching my limit, much farther and my head is going to explode. We can do it, we can.

.-.

"Game and match Rikkai! 7-6!"

Kiyomi and I high five each other and shake hands with Fuu and Yuki before we saunter off to drink a gallon of water each. We're completely drenched in sweat and at our limit but we managed to win in a tiebreak. What an incredible match. My heart is pounding and my body is alive with satisfaction. I love tennis. This is why I love tennis. Kiyomi and I wish Madoka and Chie good luck and go take a quick walk to cool down.

"We rock." Kiyomi says.

"Duh." I tell her, "We need to be in top condition because these matches are going to get tougher."

"We'll do it!" Kiyomi tosses her hand into the air, "As long as we're together!"

"Together forever." I tell Kiyomi. "That sounded a little cliché didn't it?"

"Just a little." And we start to giggle.

We walk until we reach the courts the boys are playing at and stand to watch. Niou and Yagyuu are perfect, completely dominating their opponents. Seigaku? Yes, the blue, red, and white uniforms are definitely Seigaku.

"Se-i-gaku!" A few girls cheer madly. "Fight-o!"

"Go Niou! Yayguu!" I shout out. Kirihara notices me and waves madly, I wave back and watch Niou and Yagyuu move perfectly around each other. Their opponents weren't very good and I want to know why, wasn't Seigaku a Nationally ranked school a few years ago?

"Ne, why do they suck so much?" Kiyomi asks when we arrive to stand with the boys.

"They lost a lot of good members in high school." Yanagi says. "Oishi went to another high school to pursue his career in medicine. Their power player, Kawamura, quit the team to focus on taking over his father's sushi place. And their super rookie, Echizen, is in America." That's a lot of powerful members to lose. "Their Doubles 2 is lacking. Doubles 1 is Kaido-Inui. Singles 3 is Eiji. Singles 2 is Fuji. And Singles 1 is Tezuka."

"Tezuka." Sanada growls. "I will defeat him."

"So Yukimura-Senpai isn't playing today?" Kiyomi guessed.

Yanagi nodded, "Better to save his strength for when we'll really need it."

"Aa." Sanada agrees.

"I don't want Buchou to get sick again." Kirihara admits gently.

"You guys will do great!" Kiyomi tosses her hand into the air and cheers loudly for Niou and Yagyuu who scored another point of the two rookie players.

"We should head back." I tell Kiyomi. "Good luck, you'll do great."

"Aa." Sanada nods his head and Kirihara waves as my doubles partner and I head back to the courts to cheer on our own team.

.-.

"_We are the Champions! We are the Champions!_" Kiyomi is singing loudly as we walk home. I smack the back of her head and laugh.

"We're not the Champions until we win at Nationals."

"So? We won our first round!" Kiyomi jumps up and down.

"Let's keep this energy up." Buchou tells us. When we reach the bus stop we split off and go our separate ways. Sanada appears beside me and we walk in the orange sunlight. His hand brushes mine and the next thing I know is my pinkie is linked with his. A hot blush covers my face and I stare at the ground. Even though we're not technically holding hands, it's more than enough to get my heart pounding. The walk is rather long, we probably could have taken the bus but I don't care, not right now. Neither of us speaks as we walk in sync, our hands swaying between us. His hand is so warm, how I want to hold it in mine.

With a deep breath I suck up as much courage as I can and slide my hand into his. Both of us stiffen, I'm so nervous I feel like I'm going to be sick. I shouldn't have made the first move. Bad idea! Bad idea! But it's too late to back down now right? Sanada's fingers fit comfortably between mine, like our hands were made for each other. Ok, that's too cliché for even me, but our hands fit perfect. He gives me a light, tentative squeeze and we keep walking.

"Aa… Kokawa." Sanada says softly.

"Yea?"

"Aa, I… l-l…" It's so odd to see Sanada stuttering and being nervous, it's so unusual. "I like you." He blurts out and blushes red. "Tarundoru." He scolds himself.

"I like you too." I admit.

His body stiffens and he pulls his hand from my and storms off. I trail after him, wondering if I've done something wrong. He talks to himself in a low voice before he suddenly turns around. "I like you but I don't want this to get in the way of tennis."

That smarts. I want to cry right there but I calm myself down. "Sanada," he peers at me from under his hat, "have you been unable to focus during practice? And during your matches?" He looks away silently admitting he has been. "It's because of me right?"

"Aa. And that is why a… a… r-relationship would be unreasonable. It will just lead to us slacking off and losing matches. Tarundoru!" He clenches his fists and holds them at his side.

"Listen to me Sanada…" I swallow hard, "We'll only be thinking about this more and more, even if we don't have a relationship… honestly I think having a relationship… would… would be a better idea. We'll worry less about what the other person thinks of us and if we made the right decision… and we can support each other in matches." Sanada turns around and starts to walk away. I start crying, I'm so frustrated. "Sanada Genichiro!" I squeeze my eyes shut, clench my fists to my side and spill everything, "I will never be able to stop thinking about you! You're the one person I trust wholeheartedly. Please! All I want is for you to be mine. I promise I won't let our relationship get in the way of tennis please!" I resort to begging. It's my last resort type of deal. I don't even know if Sanada is standing there anymore. "I really like you…" I whisper. "Please, can't we at least try?"

There's nothing but silence. Leaves crackle and I feel something warm wrap around me. Sanada. I hold onto him like he's going to disappear.

"I l-like you too… a-and if you want to give this a try… I'll be willing to as well… but know… tennis is the most important thing to me…." His arms squeeze me tightly. "N-not that you're not important K-Kokawa…" Hearing him so flustered is so nice. Wait, does this mean we're dating? I peer up at Sanada, he's got a bright red flush on his face but his eyes are full of concern. "Tarundoru."

I nod my head understanding. Tennis has to come first but that doesn't matter. Rubbing at my teary eyes we start to walk again, we're not holding hands but that doesn't matter. Sanada's mine. When we arrive at my house we say our goodbyes like we always do but I squeal loudly when I enter the house.

"What's up Princess?" Josh asks from the kitchen. "Did the tournament go well?"

"Yea!" I bound into the kitchen and curl up on one of the bar stools. "We won our match and next week is Round Two! And Sanada's my boyfriend!" I squeal, spinning myself off the barstool and prance upstairs.

"You're so weird!" Josh yells after me.

"Don't care!" I yell back before I dial Kiyomi.

"Yea?"

"He's my boyfriend!" I squeal loudly into my cell phone.

"What? Who? Sanada?"

"Yes!"

We squeal together and I tell her all the details.

"That's cute and sad and I'm so glad you're together." Kiyomi says.

"I'm so glad I talked some sense into him." I flop back into my bed and kick my feet in the air. "My life is so good right now." I can't stop grinning from ear to ear. "Oh I'm so happy! I have to go tell Yukimura and I'll call you right back!"

"Ok!"

I hang up and dial Yukimura. He giggles, "Sanada just called me with the news."

"He did?" I'm not sure if I'm more surprised by the fact Sanada called Yukimura right away or the fact that Sanada knows how to use a cell phone.

"Yes, he did. He's quite confused but I told him he's made the right decision."

"He's so focused on tennis he thinks a relationship would get in the way."

"Of course, it's Sanada. What do you expect?" Yukimura has a point. "You two will make a great couple. Just… take things slow… you've seen how he gets."

"Of course I'll take things slow… I… I can't believe I yelled at him. It's not like me." I sigh, but I'm so glad I did.

"You needed to. Nothing would have gotten through his thick skull better than an innocent girl screaming and crying at him." Yukimura giggled.

"I'm not innocent." I pout.

"I don't think Renji or I could have changed his mind like you did." Yukimura said gently, "You've done the right thing. And now you're ready to move onto a whole new part of your life."

"You sound like some old, wise man… emphasis on the old."

"Oh thanks." I can picture Yukimura rolling his eyes.

"You're welcome." My smile won't leave my face, no matter how hard I try. Even though Sanada is so stoic and emotionless I'm incredibly happy to be with him.

.-.

I swear gossip travels so fast these days. When Sanada and I arrive at school Monday morning people are whispering and pointing despite the fact Sanada and I always walk to school together and we're not holding hands. Well I guess I can blame Facebook a little. Sanada and I go our separate ways, as if nothing's changed between us. Nothing has really, except my mother went crazy when she realized her daughter had her first boyfriend. I'm sure our shopping trip Sunday was to buy me fancy clothes for the dates she thinks Sanada and I will be going on soon.

I'm attacked in the locker room by all my friends cooing and congratulating me. I laugh and brush them off and Kiyomi and I run our laps together. Nothing is going to stop us now! "Kiyomi, let's be doubles partners for life." I say.

"We've already decided that Amaya." Kiyomi laughs at me.

I grin at her and we jog past the boy's courts. We get a wolf whistle from Niou and Marui shouts out, "Congrats Kokawa!"

"Tarundoru!" Sanada yells at them as he smacks the two of them on the back of the head. Kirihara laughs and points at them and gets a smack too. Kiyomi and I keep running, giggling under our breath.

"Something's will never change." Kiyomi says as we finish our laps.

"Something's are already changing." I reply as we help each other stretch. I'm so glad things change and right now, I hope my life never changes again. I have the most amazing friends, school is wonderful, my housemate isn't quite as bad as I thought he was, tennis is fun, and most importantly I have an amazing boyfriend. What more could a girl ask for? I can't think of anything.

.-.

A/N: THE END THE END THE END! I hope you've enjoyed the story! I will be writing a sequel named the Romantic Life of a Teenager… and I'll be writing various sidestories (-something- Life of a Teenager) so keep your eyes peeled. Thanks for all the lovely reviews! I owe it to you guys for this story actually reaching completion!


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